E-Paper PDF 14th November (LHR)

CMYK

Thursday, 14 November, 2019 I 16 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1441 I Rs 20.00 I Vol X No 134 I 16 Pages I Lahore Edition

Block the highways, Fazl orders JUi-F g

FAzL decIdes to end-IsLAmABAd sIt-In, dIRects pARty woRkeRs to tAke pRotests to the next phAse

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JuI-F’s soomRo sAys pRotesteRs InchIng towARds success wIth eAch step undeR ‘pLAn B’

Deadlock persists over Nawaz's departure as govt demands Rs7bn indemnity bond g

LAw mInIsteR sAys govt hAs decIded to ALLow ‘one-tIme’ peRmIssIon to FoRmeR pm to go ABRoAd FoR FouR weeks STORY ON BACK PAGE

ISLAMABAD: Participants of Azadi March pack their bags after JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman called off the sit-in in Islamabad. online

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staff report

amiat Ulema-e-islam-Fazl (JUi-F)’s azadi march entered the next phase on Wednesday as the party activated its ‘Plan B’ for the anti-government protests by calling off the sit-in in islamabad and directing workers to block all major highways of the country. a party meeting was held under the chairmanship of JUi-F chief maulana Fazlur Rehman, where the party decided to end the sitin and block major highways across Pakistan.

Soon after the meeting, the JUi-F chief announced expansion of protests and reiterated his demand for the resignation of Prime minister imran Khan.

Following the decision, the participants of the azadi march dismantled their tents and started gathering their belongings to leave the sit-in venue. meanwhile, JUi-F activists along with Pakhtunkhwa milli awami Party (PkmaP) workers, proceeded to block the Quetta-Chaman

Highway for traffic. Workers from both parties have blocked the Syed Hameed Cross for traffic, causing problems for the passengers. On the other hand, a large contingent of levies forces reached the spot and started negotiating with the protesters to open the highway.

JUi-F leader attaur Rehman, while addressing the participants of the sit-in, said that the party’s Plan B has swung into action. “We have started a protest on the Quetta-Chaman Highway,” said Rehman, adding that the protesters will also block Chakdara Chowk in Lower Dir and indus Highway according to the plan.

He said that the Shahrah-e-Resham was blocked as well by the azadi marchers. “We will close indus Highway at the Link Road whereas in Punjab, we have already blocked the G t Road,” he added. Rehman further said that the party workers will start implementation on Plan B from thursday at 2:00 Pm. JUi-F leader Rashid Soomro urged the protesters to gather at Hub River Road on thursday at 2:00 pm. “Workers should not carry sticks to the sit-in protests,” he said, adding that ambu-

lances must be allowed to pass through.

He said that one should not think that the azadi march was nearing its end, adding that the protest was inching towards success with each step. “From 2:00 Pm on thursday, the motorway in Sukkur will be blocked,” he said, adding that at the same time, the road linking Ghotki to Punjab will also be closed.

Soomro further said that the Hub River Road will also be closed and the same will be done to the road that links Kandhkot to Punjab.

On tuesday, Fazl had set the ‘Plan B’ in motion, hoping to bring the ruling Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (Pti) on its knees over his demand for the premier’s resignation. the decision was taken at a meeting of the executive committee of the party that was held at Fazl’s residence to chalk out a future strategy against the government. it may be noted that the opposition has refused to become part of any violent move by the JUi-F and has only lent its token support to the marchers that have been gathered at the H-9 venue for more than a week now.

CJP rejects AGP's objection on including Justice Isa in internment centres case

Army denies it's amending act to let Jadhav appeal in civil court STORY ON BACK PAGE

Trump prioritised Biden investigation over Ukraine aid, witness tells impeachment probe STORY ON BACK PAGE

PM wants FBR to restore people’s confidence in taxation system

STORIES ON PAGE 11

FBR never issued any notice to Justice Isa, court told STORIES ON BACK PAGE & 03

‘After economic stability, govt focused on job creation’

CMYK Thursday, 14 November, 2019

02 NEWS

IHC Issues noTICe To federal govT over presIdenTIal ordInanCes SINDH SET TO CHALLENGE ORDINANCES PROMULGATED BY PTI GOVT ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

HE Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday issued a notice to the federal government and Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan over a petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Mohsin Ranjha challenging the promulgation of eight ordinances by the government.

Ranjha’s counsel Umer Gillani stated that as per Article 89 of the Constitution, the president is only authorised to issue ordinances when the government needs to respond to an emergency situation. “We want the authority of the president to be explained as per Article 89,” said Gillani.

IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah questioned the counsel whether the opposition raised this issue in the National Assembly, to which Gillani responded, “Yes, we have written to the speaker against him”. Justice Minallah then

asked the counsel how ordinances are used in India, to which Gillani responded that it is only used in special situations. According to the petitioner, ordinances can only be issued in an emergency situation and legislation cannot be made through ordinances.

“The obvious reason why the federal government rushed with these ordinances is that it did not want to meaningfully engage with the opposition in the Parliament,” stated Gilani.

“This represents a completely unconstitutional and authoritarian approach to govern and is against the spirit of our federal, democratic Constitution.”

SINDH SET TO CHALLENGE PRESIDENTIAL ORDINANCES: The Sindh government has conveyed its intent to mount a legal challenge against the ordinances recently promulgated by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led federal government.

“The ordinances promulgated by President Dr Arif Alvi are against the spirit of the 18th Amendment. The federal government is interfering in matters

that fall under the provinces’ domain,” Murtaza Wahab, the Sindh chief minister’s adviser on law and environment, said on Wednesday.

“The federal government has transgressed its authority and we will challenge its ordinances at the proper constitutional forum.” President Alvi has recently promulgated eight ordinances, one of which was related to the dissolution of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC). Wahab said the decision regarding the PMDC had been taken without any consultation with the provinces, adding that such steps were in violation of established legal procedures.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) would be the second major opposition party to challenge the ordinances as the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) has already moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) over the matter.

The petition filed by PML-N MNA Mohsin Ranjha requests the IHC to declare that the president’s power to promulgate ordinances can be used to bring about such legislation only when the government needs to respond to an emergency situation such as war, famine, epidemic or rebellion which has put the life, liberty or property of the people of Pakistan at stake.

Diabetes, deal it with family NAWAL TARIQ In this fast pace world where progress is been made everywhere, in order to flourish people are trying to drizzle perfections in each sector of life and to avoid troubles that has come in the previous times. To seek comfort and ease in life, intelligent minds have gifted such marvelous inventions to the world which can be surprising even for the most intellectual minds.

You just need to have a vision for that and possibilities cross your way themselves. Each advancement, which is been invented is a result of this. The game is not only about technological advancement the other zones are also well cared for i.e. medicine.

Health problems which eat away millions of people in past can be cured with one dose today. Where deadly diseases are completely been taken care of there still exist to be some issues which can not be completely get ridden off. Diabetes is one such curse, it is a disease which once happened can never be cured completely however can be managed through different ways. Diabetes mellitus is a disease that stops human body from properly using the energy from the food you eat.

Diabetes occurs when the pancreas produces little insulin or no insulin at all or even if it is been produced it does not function properly. Insulin is a natural hormone produced by pancreas which helps the body use sugar for energy. There are two types of Diabetes type I and type II. Type I occurs when insulin producing cells of the pancreas are damaged and pancreas makes little or no insulin, so sugar cannot get into the body's cells for use as energy. Type II diabetes is a condition in which insulin which is been produced is not enough, or the insulin does not work properly. The other type of diabetes are the result of other medical conditions.

Diabetes once occurred always stays with you. There are multiple causes

Islamabad commissioner can authorise jail meeting, court told in Zardari case

It further pleaded that such powers can be used in case of an emergency after the prorogation of the last session of Parliament, or when waiting for the commencement of the next session of either house of Parliament would cause irreparable loss of life, liberty or property to the people of Pakistan. Similarly, senior politicians have also challenged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Actions (in Aid of Civil Power) Ordinance 2019 in the Supreme Court, saying the law is unconstitutional and violates fundamental rights.

“By impugned ordinance all persons in an entire province of Pakistan are subject to a parallel and draconian legal system which authorises detention/internment without charge for an undefined duration. The law under challenge also authorises use of force and other coercive action by armed forces within the province,” reads the constitutional petition filed in October by seasoned politicians Farhatullah Babar, Afrasiab Khattak, Bushra Gohar, and Rubina Saigol. “Individuals who are held in internment centers established under the impugned ordinance are being denied their liberty pursuant to the impugned ordinance and have no judicial remedy,” it states.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday heard a petition over the ban on Pakistan People’s Party leaders’ meeting with party’s Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari who is imprisoned in Adiala Jail. Justice Shahid Waheed heard a petition filed by PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira seeking court directions for meeting with Zardari in jail. Superintendent Adiala Jail informed the court that the chief commissioner of Islamabad has the authority to grant permission for a meeting. The bench directed the AAG to get instructions from Commissioner Islamabad over the matter and appear before the court tomorrow (Thursday). The court in a previous hearing directed the Punjab IG prisons Punjab to submit a reply over the ban on party leaders’ meeting with Asif Ali Zardari in jail. The petitioner submitted that former president Zardari was imprisoned at Adiala Jail Rawalpindi and authorities concerned were not allowing him and other party leaders to meet with him in jail despite various requests for the purpose. He submitted that a meeting can be held with any prisoner as per the law but the authorities not granting permission for meeting with the party leader. “His state of health is poor and the party leaders are concerned about his health condition,” the petition said. STAFF REPORT

Why is the government asking Nawaz for an indemnity bond?

NEWS DESK

which can lead to this deadly disease such as family history of diabetes, being overweight, physical stress, use of certain medications, injury to the pancreas etc. It is a condition which needs to be taken care of instantly, delay in its treatment can never be afforded because if there is any delay it can cause unrepairable damage to human body which can endanger the life of a patient.

To deal with it properly the biggest requirement is to have a complete knowledge about it. Every year 14th November is celebrated as world diabetes day. This year International diabetes federation has chooses Family and Diabetes as a theme of this year. The purpose of selecting the respective theme is to create awareness among people about diabetes and the role of family members should play and what effects it can leave on the circle of the effected person. It also focuses on the role family members should play in the handling of diseases such as how to deal with it in daily the care affected deserves, what preventive measures should be taken and what information they need to have.

Families are urged to learn more about the warning signs of diabetes and find out their risk of type 2 diabetes.

According to a study conducted

by IDF in 2018 that parents usually find it difficult to identify the respective condition in their own children, however majority of families have di-

abetes patient even then they don’t have complete knowledge on how to detect it and how to treat it. They can’t recognize the signs. Not only the patient, people close to patient also needs to be well aware of it. As per the respective report every second person with diabetes are undiagnosed. The onset of type I is usually in the early age and type II is the old age.

Majority of the cases are of type II and its symptoms are usually mixed with other medical conditions and ignored. If left unattended diabetes can lead to life long complications e.g. blindness, kidney failure, heart attack, disruption in body functioning. Almost four million people loss their lives in the hand of diabetes in 2017. To cope up this people need to be well aware of the symptoms of this condition their detection and its treatment. World wide people are spreading awareness in this context and specially on world diabetes days different relevant institutions are working towards this, even in Pakistan different bodies are doing their part . Punjab Food Authority also is spreading awareness through different creative campaigns, taking different initiatives towards this. People also need to participate in such campaigns for their own welfare its completely in their benefit. We should change the habit of relying on other factors we should equip ourselves with complete knowledge on it and seek proper medical help as soon as possible.

CMYK

The incumbent government has allowed former premier Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad for medical treatment on the condition that he submit an indemnity bond worth Rs7 billion.

For readers who are not familiar with the legal terminology, indemnity is a contractual agreement between two parties whereby one party agrees to pay for potential losses or damages caused by another party whereas a surety bond acts as coverage for loss of an obligee when a principal fails to perform according to the standards agreed upon between the obligee and the principal.

In this case, this means that if the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader fails to return to the country, the government can cash the indemnity bond submitted by him to compensate for the penalty given to him by the courts.

According to legal experts, Exit Control List (ECL) law of 1981, which was mentioned by Law Minister Farogh Naseem, permits the government to stop anyone from going abroad if it considers it necessary and for this purpose it can add

travel restrictions or add their name on the ECL. However, experts said, no rule permits the government to impose conditions on someone’s travel. Experts further added that the absence of a rule provided the government space to impose conditions on Nawaz’s travel abroad.

Highlighting the difference between indemnity bonds and bail bonds, experts said that the former are usually in the form of contracts, adding that the government should clarify details of the bond they seek.

They further said that banks

issue bonds after something is secured against them and the only way the government can compensate for the loss is if something of financial worth is secured against the indemnity bond because personal commitments would amount to nothing if they are breached.

Other legal experts were of the view that Pakistan’s criminal law has no mention of such bonds, only the civil law explicitly mentions them. They added that while the court has allowed Nawaz to travel abroad, the government only wants to make it conditional.

CMYK Thursday, 14 November, 2019

NEWS

fBr never Issued any noTICe To JusTICe Isa, CourT Told

SC JUDGE’S COUNSEL SAYS TAX COMMISSIONER DECIDED THE MATTER OF ARTICLE 116’S VIOLATION ON HIS OWN ISLAMABAD

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Munib Akhtar, Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed heard the petitions filed by the apex court judge against the presidential reference.

During the course of proceedings, Advocate Sattar said that foreign income/asset details were to be submitted according to the tax code from 2018.

Justice Faisal Arab asked when reference was filed. Advocate Sattar replied that the reference was filed in May 2019.

Justice Faisal Arab asked whether tax code applies to this case. Advocate Sattar said that when assets do not belong to Justice Isa, tax code is not applicable to him. Justice Yahya Afridi told the SC judge’s counsel that he was heading to tax issues while the court was hearing the matter about assets. Justice Munib Akhtar

APP

DvOCATE Babar Sattar, the counsel for Supreme Court (SC) judge, Justice Qazi Faez Isa, on Wednesday told the court that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) never issued any notice to his client and the tax commissioner decided the matter of Article 116’s violation on his own.

A ten-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik, Justice Faisal Arab, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Justice

asked the counsel to avoid confusing different issues with each other.

Advocate Sattar said that taxes are a matter between the citizen and the state and no one could interfere with anyone else's tax affairs, he added. He also said that income tax law applies to income and not assets and income tax is not applicable on finances which are not eligible for taxation.He said that Justice Isa did not violate Article 116 of the tax laws. There is no mention of the money-trail in tax laws, he added.

Advocate Sattar said that the money trail case first surfaced in the Panama Papers case. He said that money trail of offshore companies has to be revealed where the identity of original owner is hidden.

Justice Isa's wife and children owned

property in London and they never denied ownership of these properties, he added.

He said that paying taxes and submitting statements were different things. He said that tax statements could be submitted even if there was no taxable income.

There is a fine of Rs 25,000 for not submitting the wealth statement with tax declarations, he added.

Advocate Sattar said that according to law, the assets of the dependent spouse, children and others must be disclosed.

Justice Maqbool Baqar asked whether the tax officer can give his opinion without an issue notice. Advocate Sattar said that FBR never issued a notice to Justice Isa and his wife. The tax commissioner decided on his own for violation of Article 116, he added. He further said that his

client was not accused of not submitting a wealth statement.

Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that it was not mandatory to show assets of spouse and children according to the 2013 wealth statement form.

Advocate Sattar said that no one else was responsible for anyone's tax related issues. Justice Faisal Arab said that even if the wife was not dependent on her husband, it was mandatory to declare her assets. The hearing was then adjourned till Monday.

The reference filed against Justice Isa alleges that he acquired three properties in London on lease in the name of his wife and children between 2011 and 2015, but did not disclose them in wealth returns.

IHC approves durrani’s bail plea in assets beyond means case

pml-n to approach court against indemnity bond condition

ISLAMABAD

NEWS DESK

STAFF REPORT

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday approved the bail plea of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Akram Durrani in assets beyond means case. A two-member bench comprising IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Akhtar Kiyani conducted the hearing. During the hearing, Durrani’s lawyer Kamran Murtaza requested the court to allow making some changes in a pending bail application. Later, the court approved the bail plea and directed the registrar office to make changes in other documents and applications.

RAWALPINDI: Australian High Commissioner Dr Geoffrey Shaw called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the General Headquarters. Matters of mutual interest, including bilateral cooperation and regional security, were discussed during the meeting. INP

Court extends Hamza’s judicial remand till Nov 28

It’s impossible to bypass process to allow nawaz to leave , says fawad NEWS DESK Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said that it is not possible to allow former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to leave the country without legal process. The federal minister took to Twitter and maintained that the Sharif family should not do politics over Nawaz Sharif’s health and arrange the surety amount [recommended by federal cabinet’s subcommittee]. The incumbent government has taken a big decision [regarding Nawaz Sharif’s health] but conflict is ongoing between the Sharif family regarding the leadership of Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N). Erstwhile president Asif Ali Zardari and many other suspects will also seek respite following Nawaz Sharif if he is allowed to go abroad without any [formal] process, Fawad Chaudhry stressed.

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

An accountability court on Wednesday extended judicial remand of Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz till Nov 28 in the assets beyond means case. On Tuesday, the court extended Hamza’s judicial remand in Ramzan Sugar Mills case against him and his father, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif.

During the hearing, Presiding Judge Amjad Nazeer expressed resentment at the PML-N leader for not maintaining the decorum of the court.

The judge reprimanded Hamza and instructed him to come to the rostrum and stay quiet. Hamza also exchanged

harsh words with the judge. He explained that the people interacting with him had come to the court on their own. “Next time, you will come straight to the rostrum,” the judge directed Hamza. The defense counsel sought exemption from personal appearance for Shehbaz Sharif, saying he had to appear before the federal cabinet’s subcommittee in Islamabad.

The court allowed the request and adjourned hearing till Nov 28.

Earlier, a NAB prosecutor filed supplementary reference in the case. On April 9, the court had indicted Hamza and his father Shehbaz in the same case. However, both accused had denied the charges against them, and maintained that they had saved

Rs2,300 billion, assuring that the money was not misused. On June 11, the accountability watchdog had arrested Hamza in the same cases shifted him to the bureau’s headquarter at Thokar Niaz Baig in Lahore as the Lahore High Court (LHC) turned down his applications for extension in his interim bail. In the hearing on June 11, Salman Butt, the defense counsel for Hamza, had argued that according to the NAB ordinance, the bureau could not issue arrest warrants unless an inquiry over the matter was completed. To which, Justice Naqvi had remarked that the judgment would be done according to the constitution, and justice would be ensured.

pedopHIle remanded InTo polICe CusTody A pedophile accused of raping over 30 children was remanded into police custody for five days after a case against him of kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old boy was registered in Rawalpindi. According to details the accused, Sohail Ayaz is a convicted child molester who was deported from the UK in 2009 after he was found guilty of kidnapping and raping children. Ayaz was also found to have circulated videos of the despicable acts he subjected his victims to on the dark web.

UK police had also discovered that Ayaz was involved in a Romanian child pornography ring before coming to the UK where he volunteered to work at “Save the Children” foundation. He was arrested on Tuesday after a woman filed a case against him for kidnapping her 13-year-old son, drugging him and then raping him for four days. According to the first information report [FIR] Ayaz threatened to release videos of the crime if the child told anyone about the incident. Rawat police have been instructed to present the suspect in court again on November 18. Rai Mazhar, a senior police official told a local news channel that Ayaz worked as a chartered accountant and was earning a salary of Rs300,000. NEWS DESK

PTA asked for measures to address hate speech, religious intolerance on social media ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat has directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to assert its regulatory role on telecommunication sector for improvement in service delivery and coverage in far flung areas. The Committee also directed PTA to take stringent measures to address the menace of hate speech and religious intolerance on social media.

Meeting of the NA Body on Cabinet Secretariat was held here in the Parliament House on Wednesday with MNA Syed Amin-ul-Haque in chair. The

Committee was given a comprehensive briefing about the regulatory mechanism of PTA and its future initiatives. The Chairman PTA apprised the Committee that PTA was actively pursuing its role as regulator on the telecommunication sector. He informed that PTA had ensured service delivery in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the telecommunication licenses, modernization of services, regulate competition between telecom operators besides protecting consumers’ interests.

Responding to a query of a Member, the Chairman PTA apprised that the Authority also ensures effective compliance of telecom services in far-flung areas by

operators through Universal Support Fund (USF). He assured that PTA would take up the provision of telecom services through USF in Baluchistan and erstwhile FATA Districts. The Chairman PTA further informed that installation of Mobile Towers especially in the residential areas was allowed after a stringent process of verification and compliant to universal health and safety standards.

The Committee appreciated the performance of PTA, however, directed to take appropriate measures against fraudulent element defrauding people of their money through mobile networks, obscenity, spreading hate speech, sectarianism and religious intolerance. He

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informed that investment conducive environment created by government had resulted in 70% rise in mobile devices assembly which would ultimately result in their manufacturing in Pakistan. The Committee while reviewing compliance of Committee’s earlier directives/recommendations appreciated the timely response by the Establishment Division. The Committee recommended for developing Standard Operation Procedure for disposal of cases of deputation in Federal Government Department under wedlock policy.

The Committee directed Federal Public Service Commission to conclude inquiry into the alleged unauthorized amendment in FPSC rules within six weeks.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Malik Ahmad Khan on Wednesday said that the party would move court against government’s demand of Rs7 billion in indemnity bonds as a condition for allowing former premier Nawaz Sharif to go abroad for medical treatment.

Speaking in Channel 92’s programme ‘Ho Kya Raha Hai?’ he was asked by veteran journalist and Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami why the party was delaying the matter when Nawaz is seriously ill. Khan said that the party will approach the court but would not sign an illegal document because it amounts to “extortion”. He said that the government should not involve itself in this matter and focus on governance instead. Speaking in the same programme, Justice (r) Shaiq Usmani said that there is no law that allows the government to ask for indemnity bonds. He said that it is a new thing and can cause any further damage as it can be used as a means for getting out of the Exit Control List (ECL) because people would pay their through it if they desperately want to evade criminal persecution in Pakistan. He further said that if the matter goes to court, Nawaz can get some relief.

pml-n to resign from standing committees of punjab assembly

NEWS DESK The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) on Wednesday decided to resign from all standing committees of the Punjab Assembly. According to various media reports, the party’s decision is a form of protest against the rejection of Opposition Leader Hamza Shehbaz’s appointment as the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman as well as the non-issuance of production orders of PML-N leaders including Khawaja Saad Rafique. PML-N will submit its resignations to the speaker’s chamber on Thursday at 10am. Further, 97 out of 100 members of the standing committees have submitted their resignations to PML-N.

04 LAHORE

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

WEATHER UPDATES THURSDAY

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Lahore’s air remains hazardous as quaLity index hits 447 LAHORE STAFF REPORT

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He city’s air quality remained ‘hazardous’ with an air quality ranking of 447, according to Air Visual’s Air Quality Index (AQI) list on Wednesday.

The Punjab capital is ranked the second most polluted city in the world, according to Air Visual, which records air pollution levels across the globe in real-time.

Delhi holds the top spot, with an AQI of 556 recorded on Wednesday. An AQI ranking

between 301-500 (or above) is classified as ‘hazardous’ and would “trigger a health warning of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected”, according to Air Now. For the last four years, smog, rightly being called the fifth season of Lahore, has deprived the people of sunshine and duskhour charm as layers of toxic smoke engulf horizon from November to February. Government officials blame the smog on crop burnings in India. experts, however, say that the situation is caused by pollution in the country.

Vegetable prices skyrocket as government looks on LAHORE SHAHAB OMER

Tomato prices in local markets of the city have shot up to Rs220-250 per kg while prices of other vegetables have also increased considerably.

According to official rates as of Wednesday, the price of tomatoes was Rs180 per kg but its price has touched Rs250 in retail markets. Similarly, onions were being sold at Rs120 per kg in markets while its official price was Rs80 per kg.

Prices of capsicum have also skyrocketed over the past few days as it is being sold at Rs300 per kg whereas the government rate of capsicum is Rs225 per kg.

Similarly, the price of green chili has also increased to Rs300 per kg in open markets whereas its official rate was Rs148 per kg. Shamim Akhtar, a housewife from Gulshane-Ravi complained, “On one end people are losing their jobs owing to the sad state of the economy and on the other end prices of essential commodities is increasing by the day, which is causing us huge trouble. It seems that the government has no check over the markets.”

The Lahore deputy commissioner, however, has issued an advisory for big departmental stores. A letter issued on Wednesday in this regard states, “It has been decided that deputy commissioner counters of fruits and vegetables at big/mega/departmental/multinational stores will be abolished. All items of fruit and vegetables will be sold at the government notified prices/ rates across the board. Poor quality of Fruit and Vegetable or violation of notified rates/prices will invite punitive action against the owner/management of the store concerned.”

On the other hand, the Aata Chakki Owners Association has also gone on strike and has closed several shops in various parts of the city saying that it was unreasonable of the government to demand that (association members) they sell wheat at Rs42 per kg after having purchased it at Rs50 per kg.

3 dead, 7 injured in Pasrur accident PASRUR: Three people killed while seven others severely injured when two vehicles collided head-on here on Wednesday.

According to rescue officials, the deadly incident occurred at Sialkot Road near Purab in Pasrur.

The Rescue 1122 informed that all the injured were shifted to the hospital; meanwhile, two of them are in critical condition. INP

CMYK

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Cleric arrested for molesting children GUJRANWALA: Police on Wednesday arrested a person who was accused of molesting children and filming the acts. According to police officials, the accused person is a cleric in Dillawer Cheema, adding that 11 objectionable videos were recovered from the laptop of the accused. He further said: “Accused used to trap children by inviting them to play games at his office.

All the children were residents of Dillawer Cheema.”

Only two parents have come forward yet, others are being told to send applications, SSP said. STAFF REPORT

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

NEWS

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ImprovIng pakIstan's aIr qualIty E

KHIZR IMRAN TAJAMMUL

ffoRTS to clean the air we breathe cannot be made without specific context to our geography. for starters, Pakistan’s diminishing air quality is not a local issue.

Pakistan lies 30 degrees north of the equator. The country falls in the tropical zone, which makes it vulnerable to trade winds, flowing east to west, invariably carrying India’s emissions. This is particularly true for communities along Pakistan’s shared eastern border with India.

Hence, any meaningful discussion and subsequent effort on cleaning up the air in Pakistan has to include agreements and treaties with India.

Tensions between the two countries are a disservice to everything from regional peace to the basic health needs of the people of the subcontinent.

90% of India’s energy mix is powered through coal - regarded as one of the worst polluters of our environment . In 2019, Indian coal will release 460 million tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Conversely, in Pakistan, Sahiwal Power Plant and Port Qasim EPC are the two major coal power plants, contributing 85% of the total 12.49 million tons of Co2 emissions directly related to coal.

Six additional plants are under construction, however, and it is estimated they will collectively add 21.18 million tons of carbon emissions to the atmosphere - that is a 169% increase in emissions resulting from coal-based power in Pakistan.

Generating power through coal is cheap. And developing economies need cheap, grid quality power, to launch themselves into the global marketplace.

That’s how coal power projects are justified: environmental and health implications are not factored into the cost of the

plant. More than 100,000 people contract fatal respiratory illnesses in Pakistan each year but that does not change the bottom line on a business plan or a feasibility report. our inability to assess new projects with an environmental and social lens means economic prosperity will come at the cost of human suffering.

Apart from improving relations with India and persuading them out of coal (which is unlikely considering our own focus on fossil fuel) Pakistan should look inwards to identify major sources of air pollution within the country and invest in projects and technologies that can counter the rapid environmental degradation. Before we get to the recommendations it would be useful to take stock of where the pollution actually comes from. In 2012, roughly 90% of Pakistan’s 369 million tons in carbon emissions came from two sectors: energy and agriculture.

In agriculture, our enormous livestock population is a big contributing factor - nearly 50% of emissions are attributed to this sector. Animal manure and enteric fermentation release copious amounts of methane (CH4) into the atmosphere - a gas that breaks down into water and carbon dioxide after 12 years and will absorb 100 times more heat than a Co2 molecule.

Moving onto energy, in 2012, Pakistan’s power generation mix was 48% gas, 32% oil, 31% hydropower, 7% coal and 2% nuclear. An alarming trend, contributing to the dwindling air quality in Pakistan, is the hydropower share that dropped from 70% of the total energy mix in 1980 to 31% in 2012. In sharp contrast, Pakistan’s dependence on combusting fossil fuels for energy has gone up. Another interesting statistic is that nearly 50% of Pakistan’s electricity is consumed by households, nearly 30% by industries

and 10% by agriculture. furthermore, Pakistan’s total emissions are expected to rise to 650 millions tons of Co2 equivalent gases by 2020.

The energy and agriculture sector’s combined contribution to this number (previously recorded at 90%) is likely to remain unchanged.

To seriously counter air pollution, we need a robust policy to help decarbonise the economy. Having identified the major polluters, we know exactly where a change in behaviour and consumption is required the most.

At 1.7 metric tons per capita, India’s emissions per person, are nearly two times in size compared to Pakistan something that will continue to adversely affect Pakistan’s air quality. While there is little we can do to influence India’s emissions, there is plenty we can still do to improve Pakistan’s air quality. I am only going to list the most imperative initiatives amongst these. first, adopting clean energy innovations in how we build and power our homes is paramount. We need to gradually move towards a ‘net-zero emissions’ building code standard that will minimise energy losses and help homeowners generate their own energy. We must also mandate the use of energy efficient cooling, heating and lighting technologies and gradually phase out inefficient technologies.

Second, Pakistan’s energy mix has to evolve so that a majority share is renewable. The world cannot afford more coal power plants. In Pakistan, the potential of the Indus to provide the clean energy we need is not yet fully realised. Political barriers that sideline clean energy initiatives should be resolved on priority. for coal power projects that are already underway, the government must enforce the use of pollution abatement technologies.

Govt decides to reopen over 400 closed temples across country ISLAMABAD: The federal government has decided to reopen over 400 temples across the country that had been foreclosed or were undergoing renovations amid vintage/vulnerable structures. When most Hindus migrated to India following the 1947 partition, many temples, as well as other lucrative properties owned by wealthy individuals, were lost to encroachment; even in places where some Hindu families stayed back, local strongmen muscled in and occupied the land. In a statement issued on Wednesday, PTI Spokesperson Ahmad Jawad said this development is being made in line with the longstanding demand of the Hindu community that their places of worship be restored to them. INP

Health facilities to be provided to far-flung areas: Dr Yasmeen LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmeen Rashid has said that incumbent Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) government is taking revolutionary measures for providing modern and quality healthcare facilities to the people of far-flung areas. The health minister was chairing a high-level meeting at Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Department on Wednesday.

Matters regarding upgradation of DHQ Hospital DG Khan into teaching hospital were discussed during the meeting. APP

CMYK

Third, in the agricultural and solid waste management sectors, there is enormous potential to convert organic waste to renewable natural gas. Timely conversions could significantly reduce GHG emissions and generate additional energy for Pakistan. Just to add some perspective to this opportunity: Pakistan generates 48.5 million tonnes of solid waste every year. Some of the best digesters produce upto 90 cubic meters of renewable natural gas from a ton of food waste (where 1 cubic meter of gas can roughly provide 5 hours of cooking).

The math is promising and the renewable natural gas fuel could potentially replace the direct combustion of biomass for cooking and heating purposes. fourth, we must invest in both natural and artificial mechanisms of capturing and storing carbon. Reforestation and afforestation drives are necessary to regain the tree cover Pakistan has lost since 1947. on average, a young tree can capture around 13 pounds of Co2 in a year. Adult plants, at age ten and above can sequester around 48 pounds of Co2 in a year. Considering Pakistan’s emissions of 0.9 metric tons per capita, we must plant 153 trees against each individual in the country, i.e. 30.6 billion trees. These numbers are extraordinary, indeed, and they really underline the importance of maintaining and growing Pakistan’s forest cover, where tree populations are best positioned to survive without human supervision.

In addition to reforestation and afforestation, a host of carbon capture technologies now exist in the market that can directly source carbon from the air and convert it to fuel, hence creating net zero carbon fuel. Several other companies also directly work with the energy sector and with indus-

try to help sequester upto 90% of their emissions. With the right set of incentives for independent power producers, and with the use of international climate finance initiatives including the sale of carbon credits, these technologies can work in Pakistan and start cleaning the air. fifth, in the last 15 years, as our forest cover has dwindled to less than 5% of our total land mass, the number of vehicles have increased by 268% from 4.7 million total registered vehicles in 2000 to 17.3 million vehicles in 2015. A carbon tax on fuel consumption, major investments in public transit and incentives to purchase zero emission electric vehicles for short hauls can significantly cut down emissions from transportation. An affordable, electronic, public transit system can take many carbon releasing vehicles off the road.

Sixth, the people of Pakistan must understand their carbon footprint, common everyday behaviors to reduce their footprint, the dangers of climate change and their role in the fight against it. This must happen through a state-led mass advocacy campaign that brings together each of the five major initiatives listed above.

Lastly, and most importantly, all of the above must take the shape of a robust public policy document with emissions reduction targets that are legislated so that Pakistan’s response to climate change remains unaffected by changing governments. An emissions inventory report should be published annually to measure the progress Pakistan is making in reducing its emissions and in keeping track of its 2030 emission targets, as per the Paris Climate Agreement.

If Pakistan is serious about improving its air quality - it must act on all of the above - today.

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

06 WORLD VIEW

IndIan army wants offIcers to deactIvate facebook accounts, stay away from whatsapp THE INDIAN ARMY ADVISORY SAYS WHATSAPP IS A VULNERABLE PLATFORM AND FACEBOOK HAS TURNED OUT TO BE A CRUCIAL SOURCE OF COLLECTING INTELLIGENCE

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HE Indian Army wants its officers holding critical posts to deactivate their Facebook accounts and not use the popular messaging application, WhatsApp, for any official communication.

In an advisory issued last month, the army has cautioned officers holding sensitive posts in all headquarters, divisions and brigades that WhatsApp is a vulnerable platform and so should not be used for any official communication.

It added that although WhatsApp is end-to-end encrypted, the encryption would cease to be effective if the mobile handset on which it is being used gets compromised.

WhatsApp was recently in the eye of a storm after it admitted that surveillance software called Pegasus — owned by an Israel-based NSO group — had been used to compromise some of its Indian users, including journalists and activists.

The advisory comes after the army cyber group conducted an analysis of social media trends in which it has identified a new set of problems on the ways its personnel use the internet.

The advisory states that the popular social media platform Facebook has turned out to be a crucial source of collecting intelligence, which is why officers holding critical posts in the army must consider deactivating their accounts.

Armed forces personnel and their families have been discouraged from posting their pictures in uniform or

photographs of locations that can give out details of sensitive locations on Facebook or other social media apps.

According to the advisory, there have been numerous instances of loss of information through social media — which could well be inadvertent — despite multiple directives issued to army personnel time and again on the threats and implications of using the online medium. A social media policy for the army is already in place since 2016.

The advisory also talks of inimical agencies possessing sophisticated tools for monitoring and analysing data on social media to derive intelligence, underscoring that those holding critical appointments are especially at risk. According to the advisory, information on OSINT or open source intelligence on the internet, can give away substantial information on important appointments held by army officers. It advises officers holding sensitive appointments to be aware of the information available about them on the internet and take steps to ensure that critical data about them is not given out inadvertently.

The advisory also states that army personnel should be cautious in giving out personal and professional details while creating accounts on social media platforms. It further states that substantial information can be extracted just by analysing posts or comments on social media made by either army personnel or their families or friends.

It advises exercising restraint in posting comments, ensuring correct privacy settings and educating families and friends of those in the army.

The advisory cautions army personnel to not link their gmail accounts to multiple other applications that could

compromise sensitive information on the email account.

USE OF SMARTPHONES: Highlighting the susceptibility of smartphones to cyber attacks, the advisory states that social media and other applications should be avoided on smartphones and they should be used only for voice calls and SMS. It states that email clients used for official communication should be strictly avoided on smartphones, as they are susceptible to phishing campaigns that can compromise the phone, leading to exploitation of calls and messages too.

The advisory also warns army personnel that the location services on a smartphone can give out vital details of movement and has hence asked to keep their location services switched off at all times, particularly during visits to forward areas.

LEAK OF CRUCIAL INFORMATION A MATTER OF CONCERN FOR MILITARY: Pilferage of crucial information about the armed forces has remained a matter of concern for the Indian military, prompting it to issue multiple directives and advisories on the use of social media.

ThePrint had reported that in July this year, the army had started monthlong cyber security exercise to identify and crack down on those violating its norms for all online activities and had those found violating the norms would face “exemplary” punishment.

Just about a week before that, the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) issued a list of instructions on information security to all army units and formations, stating that enemy agencies have access to advanced monitoring, decryption and data analysis capabilities.

ISRAEL’S WAR ON ISLAMIC JIHAD ISRAEL IS ON THE VERGE OF A YET ANOTHER GENERAL ELECTION, THE THIRD WITHIN TWELVE MONTHS, AND A FULLBLOWN WAR ON GAZA COULD BE THE KEY FOR NETANYAHU AND BENNETT TO IMPROVE THEIR POPULARITY AT THE POLLS Middle east Monitor Oraib al-rantawi

Israel launched two attacks simultaneously on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, one targeting Bahaa Abu Al-Ata — a senior commander of its military wing, Al-Quds Brigades — in Gaza, and the other targeting the movement’s Damascus-based political bureau member Akram Al-Ajouri. Abu Al-Ata and his wife were killed in the former, while Al-Ajouri’s son was killed in the latter.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged his personal responsibility for ordering the two attacks. The radical new Defence Minister, Naftali Bennett, and the relatively new chief of staff, General Aviv Kochavi, were among the small group behind the operations. Netanyahu wants to save his political and personal skin at all costs, even if he is forced to ignite a fierce war against the Gaza Strip.

The General and the leader of the Jewish Home Party, meanwhile, want to begin their terms in office with a bang by showing the highest level of cruelty and severity in an attempt to rebuild the Israeli army’s “deterrence factor”. They wouldn’t mind some personal and partisan gains either.

At the time of writing, the Palestinian resistance has fired 100 rockets at Israel, reaching the perimeter of Tel Aviv. Israeli warplanes and artillery have been practicing their favourite hobby by destroying homes in Gaza over their residents’ heads.

The ghost of a fourth war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is rearing its ugly head, despite the messages about a truce sent by Netanyahu to Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials via Egyptian intelligence.

His basic premise is this: We want a truce with the Palestinians that does not prevent us from killing their leaders whenever and wherever we want. That is the sort of truce that Netanyahu wants desperately, as does Bennett, who was appointed Defence Minister in order to prevent Benny Gantz from forming a minority government. Netanyahu wants to establish new rules of engagement in Gaza, including the rule that a truce does not prevent Israel

from continuing its assassinations and attacks unilaterally. What will Egypt the mediator do about this? Will it try to pressure Netanyahu to stick to the rules of the game and rules of engagement with the Palestinians? Does it possess the skill and tools to do so? Or will it try to convince the Palestinians to let these attacks slide with minimal responses and be content with what’s happened so far?

More importantly, how will the resistance factions in Gaza react after filling the air with threats to impose their own new rules of engagement? Will they respond to the Egyptian mediator’s efforts in order to please Cairo and preserve its role, or will they cast the Egyptian mediator aside until it fulfils its promises, and teach the Israelis a lesson they won’t forget, as they have vowed and threatened repeatedly? Netanyahu is dying politically and needs a miracle to save him from being prosecuted by the Attorney General on charges of corruption, fraud, and abuse of his position. A war on Gaza may be good for him.

Kochavi, who promotes the theory of “systematic destruction of the enemy”, needs the opportunity to translate his theory into practice; he wants to defeat the Palestinians and not just restore the deterrent image of the occupation army. Naftali Bennett is from the “Arabs are cockroaches” school of thought and he is no less passionate about using the power of his new position to fulfil his dark dreams of killing and displacing more Palestinians. The decision about war or peace is in the hands of these three individuals and each one has what is in their eyes a “good” reason to pour more fuel onto the fire in Gaza.

Israel is on the verge of a yet another General Election, the third within twelve months, and a full-blown war on Gaza could be the key for Netanyahu and Bennett to improve their popularity at the polls. The Palestinians in Gaza, however, will have ideas of their own and will be keen to prove that they are not a passive punch bag, but are capable of turning the magic on the magicians.

This article first appeared in Arabic in Addustour.

How Iran-backed forces are taking over Iraq THE IRAQI POLITICAL CLASS AS A WHOLE HAVE EVIDENTLY DECIDED THAT THEY MUST STAMP OUT THE PROTESTS TO PRESERVE THEIR INTERESTS

CounterPunCh PatriCK COCKbUrn

Iraqi security and pro-Iranian paramilitary forces are shooting into crowds of protesters in a bid to drive them from the centre of Baghdad and end six weeks of demonstrations that have challenged the political system to an extent not seen since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Police retook three bridges across the Tigris River that lead to the fortified Green Zone on Saturday and are surrounding Tahrir Square, the central focus of the protests.

In al-Rasheed Street, close to the square, police set fire to tents set up by volunteer doctors to treat injured protesters. At least six people were killed in the latest clashes, four of them by bullets and two by heavy duty tear gas grenades fired directly at the head or bodies of protesters, according to Amnesty International.

It says that 264 people taking part in demonstrations have died since 1 October, though the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights gives a higher figure of 301 dead and 15,000 injured.

The protests – and the merciless government attempt to stamp them out – are

the biggest threat to the power of the Iraqi political establishment since Isis was advancing on Baghdad in 2014. In many respects, the danger to the status quo is greater now because Isis was an existential threat to the Shia majority who had no choice but to support their ruling elite, however predatory and incompetent they had proved in office.

The slaughter of so many demonstrators is similar to the tactics used by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in 2013 to crush protests opposing his military coup that had overthrown the elected government.By way of contrast, there was no such violence response to street demonstrations in Baghdad in 2016, when protesters invaded the Green Zone, or in Basra in 2018, when the government and party offices were set ablaze.

Over the last month-and-a-half, however, there has been repeated use of snipers firing at random into demonstrations or targeting local protest leaders.

The people doing the killing are parts of the government’s highly fragmented security services and factions of the paramilitary Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) known to be aligned with Iran.

It is the Iranian leadership, and more especially General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of Revolutionary Guard’s alQuds force and supremo of Iranian regional policy, who is orchestrating the campaign to smash the protests by sus-

tained use of violence. Precisely why General Qasem Soleimani decided to do so is a mystery, since the initial demonstration in Tahrir Square on 1 October was small. The NGOs organising it had been failing for months to generate momentum.

It was the unprecedented “shoot-to-kill” policy of the authorities that turned these ill-attended rallies into a mass movement not far from a general uprising.

During the first days of the protests, protest organisers told The Independent they were at first baffled by what had happened, inclining at first to believe that the first day’s violence, when at least 10 people were killed, might be a one-off overreaction that would not be repeated.

But the killing of protesters, counter-productive though it might be, went on.

On the day after the first shootings, bands of young protesters, looking very unintimidated, could be seen milling about the area. The authorities escalated the crisis further by declaring a 24-hour curfew and closing down the internet, a collective punishment of all 7 million people in Baghdad that could only spread support for the demonstrators.

At the same time, paramilitary groups, open in their loyalty to Iran, sent their black-clad militants into television stations publicising the protests to wreck their equipment and studios. They assaulted injured demonstrators in hospitals and abducted and threatened journalists, doctors and anybody else backing the

demonstrations.

It is unlikely that this was a prearranged plot by the pro-Iranian paramilitaries acting on their own initiative.

Several of their leaders, whose groups were subsequently known to have supplied snipers to shoot at the street protests, were interviewed by The Independent a few days earlier.

Though they later declared that they had long detected a deep-laid conspiracy to use the protests to overthrow the political system in Iraq, they did not say so at the time. Qais al-Khazali, the leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, a powerful paramilitary faction, said that “Iran wants a solution [in the US-Iran confrontation] but it cannot say this itself.” He downplayed the idea that a US-Iran war was on the cards.

Abu Ala al-Walai, the head of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, said in a separate interview that what most concerned him was an Israeli drone attack on a weapons depot at one of his bases on the outskirts of Baghdad. Nevertheless, the speed and cohesion with which these pro-Iranian Shia paramilitary groups reacted – or overreacted – to the protests suggests a detailed contingency plan. “The Iranians always have a plan,” notes one Iraqi commentator. Nor did the paramilitaries act alone: no distinct boundary line divides the PMF from state security institutions.

The PMF may number about 85,000, are paid their salaries by the Iraqi government and the chairman of the PMF is Faleh al-Fayyad, the government’s national security adviser.

The Interior Minister always belongs to the Iran-supported Badr Organisation and the ministry’s Emergency Response Division, for instance, is reported to have provided snipers to shoot protesters.

In the weeks since the first peaceful march was met with extreme violence, the intensity of the repression has escalated in Baghdad and across southern Iraq.

In the Shia holy city of Karbala on one day, snipers killed 18 people and survivors were detained by pop-up checkpoints as they fled through the alleyways.

Kidnapping, disappearances, intimidation – a whole apparatus of repression – has been put in place and is unlikely to be dismantled. Pro-Iranian pro-status quo individuals and institutions within the Iraqi political system are becoming more dominant. Critics of the status quo, like the populist nationalist cleric Muqtada alSadr, whose coalition is the largest grouping in parliament, have fallen silent.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called last Friday for the security forces to refrain from using “excessive force”, but there is no sign of this having any impact. Adel Abdul Mahdi, the Iraqi prime minister for the last year, has come out of the crisis looking ineffectual. The Iraqi political class as a whole have evidently decided that they must stamp out the protests to preserve their interests.

The protesters in the streets – the radicalism of whose demands and their vagueness about how they might be achieved resembles French students during the 1968 events in France – are not able to say what they would put in place of the present corrupt and dysfunctional government. As for those carrying out the repression, they are so steeped in blood that it will be impossible for them to reverse course, not that they show any sign of wanting to do so.

Patrick Cockburn is the author of The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution.

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

FOREIGN NEWS 07

deadly israel-Gaza escalation raGes for second day TEL AVIV

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AGENCIES

xCHANGES of fire triggered

by Israel’s targeted killing of a top militant in Gaza raged for a second day Wednesday and showed little sign of easing, with 22 Palestinians killed.

Fresh rocket barrages were fired at Israel, which responded with strikes on what it said were Islamic Jihad militant sites and rocket-launching squads in the Gaza Strip. Air raid sirens wailed and fireballs exploded as air defence missiles intercepted rockets, sending Israelis rushing to bomb shelters. In Gaza, residents surveyed the damage and mourned the dead outside a mortuary and at funerals.

UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov was expected in Cairo for talks on halting the fighting, a diplomatic source said, but a source close to the discussions warned the risk of further escalation remained high.

In comments Wednesday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Islamic Jihad must stop its stop rocket attacks or “absorb more and more blows”.

He reiterated his warning that “this could take time” and said Israel would respond to attacks “without mercy.”

Islamic Jihad spokesman Musab al-

Barayem said the group was not interested in mediation for now as it responded to the killing of one of its commanders. Israel killed senior Islamic Jihad commander Baha Abu al-Ata and his wife Asma in a targeted strike early Tuesday, prompting barrages of rocket fire in revenge and retaliatory Israeli air strikes.

According to Israel, Ata was responsible for rocket fire at Israel as well as other attacks and was planning more violence, with the military calling him a “ticking bomb.”

The flare-up raised fears of a new conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, who have fought three wars since 2008.

A total of 22 Palestinians have been killed so far, including Ata and his wife, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. Islamic Jihad confirmed that the dead included other members of its armed wing.

220 ROCKETS: Since Israel’s killing of Ata in what was believed to be a drone strike, at least 220 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza and dozens have been intercepted by air defences, according to the army. There have been no Israeli deaths, though damage has been caused and one rocket narrowly missed cars on a busy highway.

Israeli medics said they had treated 48 people with light wounds, while

schools were closed in areas near the Gaza border for a second day running.

On Tuesday, school closures included the commercial capital Tel Aviv.

Schools in the blockaded Gaza Strip, an enclave of two million people, have been closed since Tuesday.

Unusually and in a sign it was seeking to avoid a wider conflict, Israel’s announced targets were confined to Islamic Jihad sites and not those belonging to Hamas. It normally holds Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip, responsible for all rocket fire from the en-

clave as the territory’s de facto rulers.

Israeli analysts were quick to highlight the change of approach.

“For the first time in the current era, Israel drew a distinction between Hamas and Islamic Jihad,” commentator Ben Caspit wrote in Israeli newspaper Maariv.

“By so doing, Israel deviated from its iron-clad principle that Hamas, as the sovereign power in Gaza, has to pay the price for any action taken by anyone in the Gaza Strip. That is now no longer the case.” Islamic Jihad is the second most-powerful militant group in the

Gaza Strip after Hamas.

The flare-up comes at a politically sensitive time for Israel. A September 17 general election ended in a deadlock and a new government is yet to be formed.

It was the second election since April, when polls also ended inconclusively.

The violence drew international calls for calm.

Britain’s foreign office said “we call on all sides to rapidly de-escalate the situation, and support the UN and Egyptian efforts to achieve that objective.”

Chaos in Hong Kong as pro-democracy protests 'blossom everywhere' CENTRAL AGENCIES

Venetian anger after historic flood devastates city VENICE: Venetians woke Wednesday to devastating scenes after the highest tide in 50 years washed through the historic Italian city, beaching gondolas, trashing hotels and sending tourists fleeing through rapidly rising waters. Shopkeepers on the Grand Canal raged against those who have failed to protect the UNESCO city from the high tide, blaming corruption for the much-delayed barrier protection system which could have prevented the disaster. “The city is on its knees,” Venice’s mayor Luigi Brugnaro said in an interview with national broadcaster RAI. “There’s widespread devastation,” he said in the famed St. Mark’s Square, which bore the brunt of the flooding.

Tourists lugging heavy suitcases waded in thigh-high galoshes or barefoot through the submerged alleys, as water taxi and gondola drivers baled sewage-tainted water out of their trashed vessels. The exceptionally intense “acqua alta,” or high waters, peaked at 1.87 metres (six feet). Only once since records began in 1923 has the water crept even higher, reaching 1.94 metres in 1966. “It was unbelievable, the water rose so quickly,” said resident Tiziano Collarin, 59, as he surveyed the damage. “Windows were blown out, there are those who have lost everything,” he said as the flood alarm rang out to warn those in the canal city that the tide, which had receded somewhat overnight, was coming in once again.The fire brigade said it had carried out over 250 operations as well as laying on extra boats as water ambulances. Around 150 fire fighters were deployed to rescue people stranded on jetties and to recover boats broken free from their moorings. A 78-year old was killed by electric shock as the waters poured into his home, Italian media reported. President of the Veneto region Luca Zaia said 80 percent of the city had been submerged, causing “unimaginable damage”. German tourist Gabi Brueckner, 58, said the nighttime drama had been “horrifying”. She echoed the mayor in blaming climate change and said she feared like many people that “it will get worse and at some point Venice will drown”. A massive infrastructure project called MOSE has been underway since 2003 to protect the city, but it has been plagued by cost overruns, corruption scandals and delays. AGENCIES

Pro-democracy protesters Wednesday stepped up a “blossom everywhere” campaign of road blocks and vandalism across Hong Kong that has crippled the international financial hub this week and ignited some of the worst violence in five months of unrest.

The new phase in the crisis, which has forced schools and shopping malls to close as well as the shutdown of large chunks of the vital train network, has prompted police to warn the city is on the verge of “total collapse” and a “breakdown”.

China, facing the biggest challenge to its rule of the territory since it was handed back by the British in 1997, has insisted it will not buckle to the pressure and warned of even tougher security measures.

As they have since the start of the week, protesters on Wednesday choked roads and blocked traffic with anything they could lay their hands on including bricks, bicycles, couches and other materials. Key arterials routes were targeted in morning and after-work peak hours.

Various lines on the subway — used daily by more than half of the city’s 7.5 million people — were also suspended, forcing many workers to stay at home.

In the Central business district, hundreds of people left their offices at lunchtime to join the more hardcore protesters setting up barricades outside luxury-item shops and headquarters of big financial firms.

Masked protesters dressed in their signature black were also locked in a series of tense standoffs at university campuses, following intense clashes on Tuesday night that saw police fire tear gas and rubber bullets.

Highlighting the growing security fears, mainland Chinese students began fleeing Hong Kong on buses and boats back across the border, according to police and universities, although it was not immediately clear how many had left.

The chaos was part of the largely leaderless protest movement’s new strategy branded “blossom everywhere”, in which small groups target as many parts of the city as possible to cause maximum disruption and stretch police resources.

Until this week protesters had largely confined their actions to evenings and the weekends.

The campaign began Monday with an effort to shut down trains and enforce a city-wide strike, and has for the first time seen three straight days of chaos during the working week.

“The rioters’ intention is to bring Hong Kong into a total breakdown. No excuse, no political motives can justify or glory this madness,” police spokesman John Tse told

reporters on Wednesday.

A day earlier, one of his colleagues said Hong Kong was “on the brink of total collapse”.

The poisonous atmosphere worsened on Monday morning when a police officer shot an unarmed 21-year-old protester, leaving him in a critical condition.

It was only the third confirmed instance police had hit someone with live rounds since the unrest began in June.

The shooting, broadcast live on Facebook, exacerbated fury among protesters about what they say is excessive police violence.

However, fears have also risen about increasingly violent tactics from the protesters. On Monday a 57-year-old man, who had been arguing with protesters, with a flammable liquid and set him on fire. He was also hospitalised in critical condition.

The protest movement has been fuelled by anger that China is choking the liberties and freedoms that Hong Kong is meant to have under the terms of the handover deal with the British.

Protesters are demanding the right to freely elect their leaders.

Instead of offering concessions, China has responded with ominous warnings that it is prepared to further curb freedoms and that it wants tougher security measures in Hong Kong.

On Tuesday the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist Party, signalled that local district elections due to be held on November 24 may be cancelled if the protesters do not back down.

“Only by supporting the police force to decisively put down the riots can (Hong Kong) return to peace and hold fair elections, to help Hong Kong start again,” the commentary said.

Other powerful arms of the Chinese state media have also again raised the prospect this week of the Chinese military being deployed in Hong Kong to end the crisis.

Still, China is not yet prepared to take such drastic action as a military intervention as it plays a longer game of weakening and intimidating the protest movement, according to Ben Bland, Sydney-based director of the Southeast Asia Project at the Lowy Institute, a policy think-tank.

“It still seems, as far as we can tell, that the most likely response is going to continue to be led by the Hong Kong authorities and the Hong Kong police,” Bland told AFP on Wednesday.

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

08 COMMENT

Hindutva wins in Babri Masjid case

JUI-F’s Plan B As questionable as its sit-in

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fter 13 days of its sit-in in Islamabad, the JUI-f has concluded that it is not possible for a political party to overthrow a sitting government through mob action. the two week long sit-in having failed to produce the results expected by the JUI-f chief, he is left with no option other than to call it off. He cannot however abruptly tell the crowds he has brought to Islamabad to end the march without providing them a better alternative. Plan B is thus a ploy to wean away the marchers from Islamabad by diverting their energies to a supposedly more efficient way of getting rid of the PtI administration. the Plan B is aimed at blocking the main roads in Islamabad and major cities of all the four provinces.

Once the plan becomes operative those at the Islamabad sit-in can be asked to move gradually to other towns to help their party men blocking the roads. Maulana fazlur rehman has advised his supporters not to take the law into their hands. But this amounts to directing a person to jump into the swimming pool without getting himself wet. A crowd cannot block a highway without causing traffic jams and forcing the police to take recourse to the use of force to open the road. even under Mahatma Gandhi, the past master of the art of non-violence, the Chauri Chaura incident led to killings and wrecked the non-cooperation movement. the PPP and PML-N, who support Maulana fazlur rehman’s objective but are unwilling to join the sit-in, could have prevailed on him to desist from the move had the PtI not pushed them to the wall. It is now for the government to engage the JUI-f leadership to stop them from spreading the sit-ins all over the country. the JUI-f has every right to launch a protest but it must not indulge in dharnas or blocking of the highways which amounts to removing a sitting government by recourse to force. the Constitution allows the change of a government only in two way, either through an in-house change or through fresh elections. It is time the JUI-f and the rest of the opposition try to make a better use of Parliament.

The advisers are coming!

A vote of no-confidence in ministers?

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He proposal to use technical advisers from the private sector in ministries above the secretary but below the ministers is supposed to be because the PtI government sees its failure to control the bureaucracy, and wishes to impose its will on the government this way. However, the origin of the concept reveals the real motive. the pattern to be followed is that of the undersecretary of a US department. In short, a position which exists in a presidential system is to be translated into a parliamentary system. there is one caveat: US undersecretaries may well come from the private sector, but they are not given private-sector salaries, as has been proposed for the technical advisers, who are to receive Special Salary Grades. this is not the first time that the government has shown a hankering for a presidential system. the usual number of PM’s Advisers and Special Assistants put in charge of ministries, cutting out members of Parliament, shows that the Prime Minister finds it problematic to find suitable ministers where a parliamentary system – mandates he find them– in Parliament. even those ministers who have passed muster find that they will be given a subordinate between them and the departmental secretary, who will presumably continue to be a member of the permanent civil service.

Incidentally, those civil servants have also been found wanting, and the idea of generalists administering technical departments is clearly not appealing to the government. Another issue is that secretaries are the department’s principal accounting officers to Parliament, and it needs to be settled which official will be responsible to Parliament for the money it has provided. While ministers are responsible to Parliament, and so are secretaries, who are advisers responsible to? Is this an attempt to create a super-PM? Another problem is that the scheme might merely be a jobs-for-the-boys plan, to accommodate the PtI ‘experts’ who have not got jobs so far. even if the PtI eschews such naked nepotism, what is to stop future, less scrupulous, governments from misusing this? that government service needs reform is undeniable, but transplanting ideas from the presidential system to the parliamentary will not work. Civil service reform cannot achieve the consensus of civil servants, who would all have their own axes to grind. However, imposing a fiat is not desirable either.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

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The demise of Indian secularism

B Z KhaSRU

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NdIA has just set an example of how a nation can retreat into darkness, with its Supreme Court ruling on Saturday that a Hindu temple be built to honour the fictitious God ram on the disputed site of a historic 400-year-old Muslim mosque, named after the first Mughal emperor. the top court agreed with Hindus that a structure existed under the mosque, that the Babri Masjid was not built on vacant land. It decided to give Muslims land elsewhere to construct a mosque, a consolation prize that seems akin to giving the continental USA back to the Indians and resettling the Americans in Hawaii.

Indian Muslims should reject the land offer and not build any mosque at all in protest. to defy Hindu extremists, they should also start holding weekly friday congregations under open skies whenever the weather permits. they should forcefully assert their equal rights under India’s constitution, but shun violence. Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence creed is the most powerful weapon civilians ever invented. the verdict capped years of legal wrangling, which reached India’s highest court in 2011 when Hindus appealed a lower court order that the site be shared by the two religions. In 2018, a three-judge panel declined to send the case to a constitution bench, prompting the Chief Justice to form a body to decide who owns the property. the five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice ranjan Gogoi, ordered the government on Saturday to set up in three months a trust to manage the site on behalf of ram Lalla Virajman, the child deity, worshiped by Hindus at the site.

Now the Hindu ultra-nationalist government will form a board to erect the ram temple where once stood the Babri Masjid. this action ends India’s secular tradition by patronising one religion against another. India, a nation of 1.3 billion people with 200 million Muslims, is to treat all religions equally under the constitution. the verdict is faulty also because it ordered the government to construct a temple, even though the court admitted there is no evidence that one ever existed at the site. the court overstepped its jurisdiction, too; its task is to decide the ownership. What will be done with the property that is no business of the court— that will be decided by the owner.

Hindus, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s supporters, claim that Mughal emperor

Khalid Ranjha

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CCLeSIAStICAL princes alone have states without defending them, have subjects without governing them, and their states not being defended are not taken from them; their subjects not being governed do not resent it, and neither think nor are capable of alienating themselves from them,” said Machiavelli, the apostle of power politics. the same had been true about the socio-political clout of mullah in Pakistan until recently. But a change in Pakistan’s strategic thinking due to an interplay of domestic, regional and ultra-regional factors has put religious political forces in an existential crisis. feeling safe in the knowledge that their inability to translate their street power into votes would not dent their role as defenders of the nation on the ideological front, they never, with the exception of their participation in Islami Jamhoori Ittehad, mounted any significant political challenge to the ruling elite. the state, in fact, enjoyed a honeymoon period, though ill-advisedly, with radical Islamists as long as they served its interests in Afghanistan and Kashmir. this marriage of convenience has, however, been under threat of dissolution since 9/11.

Since then, the world at large, and the USA in particular, has come to believe that supporting jihadists against any secular regime unleashes such lethal forces as are beyond the capacity of their architects to control.

As a logical consequence to this development, countries such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as they found themselves in an embarrassing situation for their alleged patronage to these regressive elements, largely disassociated themselves from their yesteryears’ strategic assets.

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Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur, whose dynasty ruled India from 1526 to 1857, built the mosque on top of a temple at the birthplace of ram, a character in the ramayana, an epic written by the sage Valmiki about 200 BC. An archaeological survey found no evidence of this, only that an unspecified structure existed before the mosque.

In deciding the case in favour of the Hindus, the justices accepted infant ram as a perpetual minor under law, an ill-conceived legal doctrine without precedent outside India. It is beyond a modern man’s imagination how learned jurists of an ancient civilisation can accord legal status to a fictitious deity. Only the dark mind of India seems to be at work. this judgment has irreparably damaged the Supreme Court and undermined minority confidence in the judiciary. the court made a mistake by deciding the case based on whether Hindus worshiped at the site, which has been used as a mosque since 1528. It ignored the main instrument of ownership— the title to the land. the court said “there is clear evidence to indicate that the worship by the Hindus in the outer courtyard continued unimpeded in spite of the setting up of a grill-brick wall in 1857,” which means the Hindus were in possession of a part of the land and hence have a valid ownership claim. By this logic, Muslims in the USA can rightfully claim ownership of many churches, where they held weekly friday prayers. No one in the USA can claim ownership of a house just by the virtue of living in it for some time. the court contradicted itself in saying that titles can’t be decided on faith when it actually ruled in favour of Hindus because of the evidence that Hindus continuously worshiped at the site for a long period. the pendulum of justice cannot swing according to political wisdom or pragmatism. Justice upholds legal principles. the court should have given the land to its valid title holder. even better would have been for the apex court to stay above the fray and send the case back to the lower court to settle the ownership dispute.

Like the US Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of India should be minimally interventionist, hearing only the cases that involve serious constitutional issues. Indian justices decide as many as 700 cases a year, against 70 by their US peers. the unanimous landmark verdict is pure politics, and it has voided respect for history, which

India’s founding leaders treasured as mythical cobras protect their pots of gold. this ruling relegates India’s Muslims into perpetual discrimination based on religion, an idea ultra-nationalist Hindu guru V.d. Savarkar espoused a century ago.

Muslims prayed at the mosque for generations until 1949, when Hindu activists placed idols of ram inside the complex. the mosque was demolished in 1992 by Hindu mobs triggering nationwide religious violence that killed about 2,000 people, most of them Muslims. this destruction of the mosque highlighted the failure of secularism in India, and divided the country along religious lines, giving politicians an opportunity to appeal to base instincts of Hindu masses to win elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political organisation, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which wishes to create a Muslim-free India, vowed decades ago to build the temple at Ayodhya. Behind this movement has been the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a militant umbrella group with a taxexempt affiliate in the USA, which works to reconvert Muslims and Christians to Hinduism. the verdict gave a major victory to the 69year-old Modi, who was blamed for the Muslim massacre in 2002 and has been under fire since August for scrapping special autonomy for Muslim-majority Kashmir.

Since Modi came to power in 2014, India has passed laws against Muslims, and several states are planning to deny government jobs to people with more than two children. the Muslim birth rate exceeds the Hindu, and India has a phobia that Muslims will outnumber Hindus and re-establish the Muslim empire. Muslim history has been removed from school textbooks. Modi is considering a law to grant refugee status to everybody but Muslims.

With the verdict, India is now a Hindu nation, which means that Muslims are free to leave if they so choose, or stay as subservient to Hindus. this is how Hindus want to avenge their humiliation under Muslim rule for 1000 years. the court decision will create chilling effects among Muslims and intensify simmering HinduMuslim tensions inside India and out. Moderate Muslims in Bangladesh and Pakistan, for example, will stumble to cite India as a model to fight extremism. Muslims rather will point to extremism of Buddhists and Hindus as well as Christians as existentialist threats to their religion.

Mullah in crisis The Long March is the culmination of post-9/11 changes in attitude despite its sincere efforts to prevent the use of its soil for cross border terrorism, fencing along the durand Line at the cost of lives of its own soldiers is a standing proof of the same, Pakistan had still been in the crosshairs of international criticism for not cracking down on the militants linked to the Kashmir cause. India, meanwhile, successfully painted genuine Kashmiri liberation struggle, particularly after 2016, as Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Hence, Pakistan distanced itself from such groups also as is evident from the conspicuous absence of any Kashmir solidarity rally by Lashkare-taiba after India stripped Kashmir of its special constitutional status.

Having lost patience with the militant elements within Wahhabi Islam, Pakistan also experimented with supporting Barelvis as they were believed to be peaceful for their association with the Sufi tradition in Islam. It, however, it later transpired that as soon as Barelvis found themselves as state’s favourites, they also turned violent. Khadim Hussain rizvi and his supporters, emboldened and encouraged by the state’s protection to Milad-un-Nabi events, mistakenly assumed that they could get away with doing anything, such as lynching Mishaal Khan and inciting soldiers to rebel against the COAS, in the name of the honour of the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him).

As a burnt child dreads the fire, Pakistan, after facing multiple intractable crises brought about by the religious groups, learned the hard lesson of never allowing them to become the face of the nation be-

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fore the outside world. It, however, doesn’t imply that religious issues are losing traction in public. In point of fact, mainstream political leaders have taken it to themselves to raise ideological and religious issues at national and international fora. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s focus on Islamophobia and the honour of the Prophet (PBUH) in his UNGA speech is just one example.

Adding to the woes of an already troubled mullah, Pakistan decided to open itself to massive Chinese investment and cultural influx. Being itself a victim of religious extremism in its Xinjiang province, China considers extremism as one of three evils, others being separatism and terrorism, it shows no tolerance for. And as Chinese President Xi Jinping made it clear that, “We must resolutely resist overseas infiltration through religious means and guard against ideological infringement by extremists,” China will not take kindly to the fact of militants linked to the east turkestan Islamic Movement (etIM) finding any support from the religious-right in Pakistan. Hence, the more China comes to influence Pakistan’s policymaking, the less will be a space for religious extremists in this country. traditionally, religious groups have enjoyed two-fold, social and political, importance in Pakistan. their social relevance, however, always eclipsed their political importance. As a matter of fact, apart from the MMA’s government after the 2002 general elections in erstwhile NWfP, they have never been major political players. Being content with their social importance and their ability to in-

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fluence political decision making in Pakistan, they, in fact, never took their unimpressive political performance as an existential challenge. things, however, have changed of late. Having seen his social clout considerably diminished after the romance between the state and mullah fizzled out, the latter seems to have embarked upon the mission of increasing his political relevance. Unsurprisingly, no mullah other than the like of Maulana fazlur rehman, who believes in the democratic process and does not confront the state on sensitive issues like Asia Bibi’s acquittal, is in a position to launch his political campaign without coming under severe censure. Hence, he has come with a vengeance to exploit the opportunity afforded to him by the circumstances.

As Pakistanis have never voted a religious political party into power, the MMA government in erstwhile NWfP being an exception, Maulana fazlur rehman has also felt the need to redefine his politics. this time, instead of raising ideological issues, he has put the ruling party’s performance in terms of its failure to make good on its election promises, through the wringer. this speaks volumes about the fact that the Maulana, being the last politically relevant mullah, not content with mobilising only his madrassa base wants to maximise his appeal to the swing voters.

However, once he is in power, though it seems a least likely and a less palatable scenario, it may create space for all those who are becoming increasingly irrelevant.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail

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Is this promotion of art?

The Indian economy and the cobra effect PitamBeR KaUShiK

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S the Indian rupee hit a new low, exports fell 9.7%, and growth rates slid to a six-year nadir in the first quarter, there was widespread criticism of government economic policies, mismanagement and myopia. Independent global organisations were compelled to lower ratings, while economists consistently appreciative of Modi, also turned sceptical. GdP growth fell to a humble 5 per cent in the first quarter. Growth in eight core industries dropped to 2.1 per cent, the worst in four years, from 7.3 per cent a year ago. Speculations of an imminent recession led to unrest. Severe manufacturing sector slowdown was largely responsible as the fourth consecutive quarter of decline materialised.

As the Prime Minister repeated his ambition of a “5 trillion economy”, noted economist and BJP MP Subramanian Swamy said that would need growth of 18-19 per cent. former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed the slowdown “very worrying”. He contended that demonetisation, followed by faulty GSt implementation, triggered it. He proposed a six-point plan to counter it. However, the flurry of criticism didn’t bridle the indiscriminate juggernaut of economic ambition, but rather seemed to divert it on a more dangerous course. the opposition merely deflected the government’s blind zeal to drastic measures derailing the situation further.

Apparently agitated by the criticism, the government still disregarded that six-point plan. It continued slashing corporate taxes, and merging banks. that was purportedly intended to reinvigorate the economy. However, many contend otherwise. the government refuses to acknowledge that citizens do not have money to spend and that the lower stratum is struggling even for a fair livelihood. the BJP regime is superfluously promoting ease of business, investment and banking environment, instead of recognising that it is demand, and the inability of people to buy and take credit, that is crippled. the government has been consistently neglectful of the working class and is blatantly sidelining income equality, putting its faith in the obsolete trickle-down paradigm.

A historic parable: Because of the number of wild cobras in delhi, the imperial British government announced a programme of a reward for dead cobras. there was initial success. Soon, locals began breeding cobras, slaying them, and presenting them for the reward. the administration repealed the programme, and cobra breeders released their stock into the wild, increasing the number of wild cobras. Similarly, in colonial Vietnam, the french authorities started paying a reward per rat killed. to claim the bounty, one presented the rat’s tail. Soon, locals started severing rat tails and setting the rats free back into the sewers, so they would keep breeding and maintain the population. Similarly, the regime has taken measures deepening capitalism and worsening the crisis for the worst-hit. the government’s attempt to forge a business-conducive and banking-fostering semblance is not only misdirected but also misplaced. things like the rural employment guarantee need to be revived, to cure the malady, as a public purchasing power increment initiates a chain reaction. this pulse in purchasing ability provokes multiplier effects, and automatically causes a rise in grassroots production. the finance Minister declared that the total revenue loss due to the cuts would be about $20.5 billion, which has caused concerns regarding the government’s ability to meet its fiscal deficit target for 2019-20. rating firm S&P Global deemed the rate cut a “credit negative development”. the BJP stayed in denial, tweeting that despite all concerns, India was still the fastest growing economy, as China well overtook it. the government also availed an unprecedented surplus transfer of rs. 1.76 trillion

Modi’s economic management ignores the ordinary citizen from the rBI to bail itself out. the unemployment rate reached a 45-year high and the tax collections from the previous fiscal caused an estimated revenue shortfall of rs 1.67 trillion.

None of these steps address the problem of falling demand, and blatantly ignore unequal wealth distribution. the problem of the lower strata is not acknowledged, let alone redressed.

Overt reliance on growth rate per se, disregarding wealth disparity and distribution, undermines democracy. the effects of the new corporate tax cuts will take time to manifest and will worsen matters now. the criticism by the opposition has backfired, colliding with the BJP’s rigid political ego. In effect, criticism of lessening growth, seemed a challenge to the government, and led it to patch the figure rather than cure the causes. thanks to the superficial opposition criticism, the BJP regime will direct all its efforts at artificially bolstering the numeral, rather than perceiving it as an indicator of an economic crisis. the crisis shows in several botched-up parameters, with GdP growth only one symptom, albeit the most conspicuous. thanks to ill-prepared attacks, the government is more reckless. Blinded by the provocation, the government will aggressively act to increase the number and not work on causes. Because the statistic is a convenient rule of thumb for the layman, the government will work to make it a spectacle– an electoral superlative catering to voters without time or analytical acumen to spare on the intricacies of economics. Projecting the figure as a singular representative of progress, the government will likely successfully manage to divert attention from income equality, social justice and welfare. thumping steps as corporate tax cuts also distract attention from underlying flaws. emphasising disproportionately on the declining GdP growth rate, the opposition has proven that its superficiality, opportunism, quick-baiting habit and lack of analytical depth match that of the government, rendering it inadvertently complicit. the Indian economy has become a ping-pong ball trapped in ignominy. With attention spans becoming irrelevant, and oblivion of the rational, analytical method, the political accountability of governments is not established, particularly in economic policymaking. the transient six per cent increment in the stock exchange, coupled with increased investments and preference for India site-location by mega-MNCs as Samsung are initial successes expected to bolster the government’s already bloated complacence and conviction in its top-down style of legislation. the Cobra effect is an attempted solution aggravating the problem. It shows incorrect stimulation in economy and politics. As with the colonial pest purges, relying on symptoms and superficial indicators, they only present a partial picture which lead to administrators dwelling in prolonged delusion. the same symptomatic targeting is evident in the finance Ministry’s new steps. rather than targeting root causes, these insta-hacks always do more harm than good.

Using sheer scale not only tends to distract from the crisis at hand, but creates an illusion of government willpower. If the government is criticised, provoking the government to take GdP growth rate as an end in itself, it shall pursue it to curtail criticism by simply towards repairing the number, and not the economy, directly. these measures, not in the least limited to manipulating output data or changing statistical methods, shall only serve to mislead public opinion. former Chief economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian had attracted considerable international attention for exposing India’s GdP overestimation methodology. If his hypothesis was correct, India’s data collection method is inherently flawed, and the GdP growth rate might be well below five per cent. the recently enforced tax-concessions are speculated to have a negative effect on the level of activity in the economy, which in turn is bound

to adversely affect employment and output, something the government is blatantly ignorant of.

Prabhat Patnaik, an emeritus economics professor, propounded that as the reduction won’t be financed by a large fiscal deficit, it would eke out its resource supply from the common people, further depriving them of their income and purchasing power. In effect, this would enact an income-shift from the working people to the corporates, which would reduce consumption demand, as former have a higher propensity to consume. He argues that since corporate investment depends on the anticipated expansion in market size, which remains unaffected by rise in post-tax profits, the recentlygranted concession will not generate further investment. thus, the aggregate demand would decline, and in turn feed a lower investment in the next quarter, dragging down the economy.

It is not only India, which is suffering from the income divide, but the worldwide economic recession is a result of the exploitative neo-liberal nexus having its way. Unfortunately, criticism directed at dated macro-parameters is ignorant of more modern, refined and inclusive vital statistics that do not alienate welfare and individual development.

It has often been theorised and practically corroborated, that reforms only work bottom-up, not top-down. Moreover, neglect of the manufacturing sector as well as the informal sector and nonrecognition of its intimate flow to the formal sector, has crippled production. declining production, especially that of fundamental everyday items affects informal labour employed in these industries. elementary secondary goods often employ low-income or rural labour and thus their crippling generates mass-unemployment. the government has failed to acknowledge the significance of migratory rural labour. the ego of the government and its penchant for showy action, prevents it from prudential strategies. Consistency of action, optimisation, and foresight are alien to the BJP’s characteristic chest-thumping, shock-value-reliant policymaking. Here’s a government which wishes to reflect its political will by making split-second, boltfrom-the-blue decisions. Instead of gradual, multi fronted economic reforms, and phasing things and out, the Modi government comes across as pompous, control-freaks who disregard continuity, usurp ongoing life, and disrupt entire systems. everything from the demonetisation to the GSt, to the scrapping of Article 370 reflects this. discarding stable, existing systems, with absolutely no regard for continuity has become the most salient trait of the incumbent regime.

Criticism didn’t retard this crisis, and provoked a kneejerk reaction that targeted the symptoms, not the underlying causes. the political ego and denialism of the government, coupled with blame mongering, caused insidious damage.

It is perhaps in the psyche of an excessively publicity-conscious PM to make decisions based on publicisability rather than utility. reformist steps, such as those quietly undertaken by dr Manmohan Singh, become irrelevant. the lesson is that critics must never play the same games as their subjects. It is not prudent to counter authoritarianism, corporatism and crony capitalism, by citing macro-indicators. the trade-off is often a bellicose reaction. dissent must never trade veracity for sensationalism. In the Indian context, it is prudent to stay vigilant if the winds of criticism douse or rouse the unbridled fervour and misplaced confidence of the government. So far, every brick pelted at the upper echelons of the government has only been consolidated into its impenetrable wall. the more bricks pelted at the top, the higher the authoritarian edifice grows. It is thus crucial that the opposition, if genuinely concerned about the state of democracy and the citizens, pluck the fuel from the fire, and not fan it further.

ArtIStS community and art lovers in particular and the people at large in general were pretty happy and joyous on knowing about first International Islamabad Art festival is going to be held in the federal capital from November 18 to 30, 2019.

It is a collaborative project, to be hosted in different locations all over Islamabad and being organised by a consortium of public and private educational institutions, art galleries and artist associations from all over the country besides foreign embassies based in Islamabad.

Its inauguration is scheduled to be held at Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), the only art and culture promoting national organisation, on November 18.

But their happiness has been dampened to some extent on knowing that although all collaborating partners were providing cooperation and assistance in cash and kind for free in their efforts to promote art in the country but the organisers have now been asked to pay for use of space at PNCA as it will not be provided for free like others.

According to some reports, the National History and Literary Heritage division, under whose purview PNCA falls, was also providing its space for free like other sponsors. But Some days back, on the express direction of the federal education Minister who holds additional charge of the division, its collaboration has been withdrawn and now the PNCA space is going to be used on payment. federal education Minister Shafqat Mahmood is known among art and culture circles as not so inclined and interested in promotion of art and culture. Quite interestingly, he is hostile towards art and culture despite being close relative of well-known artist and art teacher Salima Hashmi. Is this the way to promote art?

OSAMA BIN ASIM Rawalpindi

Tread carefully, Maulana POWer-HUNGry Maulana led JUI-f leadership is seriously and sincerely advised to avoid stepping on the wrong foot, keep on staging dharna in Islamabad as long as they want and do not give their protest any ugly turn.

JUI-f workers are sitting in the federal capital for many days and realising that the federal government headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan is unmoved are now trying to give rather an ugly and turn to their protest by blocking major highways throughout the country in furtherance of demand of PM’s resignation and stepping down of his government thus paving the way for new mid-term general elections.

According to the reports on electronic media, they have already blocked a highway in Balochistan province by creating obstructions thus stopping transit trade between Afghanistan and Pakistan besides blocking the way for hundreds of passenger buses, cars and trucks on the roads. they are resorting to such unconstitutional, illegal and anti-people extraordinary step without realising that by resorting to this not so welcome step they are creating problems for hundreds of thousands of people including men, women and children travelling in cars and buses and blocking supply line of essential daily use articles between major and small cities and towns across the country more than causing problems and difficulties to the federal and provincial governments established under the law.

People had rejected the Maulana party in the last general elections and these anti-people activities would create more hatred against them among the masses at large. Prior to start of the Azadi March, the roads were blocked by the provincial governments and the superior courts had got these removed through their orders. the superior courts are requested to take suo motu notice of what the protestors are doing to create problems for the people at large throughout the country.

M Z RIFAT Lahore

Nostalgia BefOre creation of Pakistan Kallar Syedan, a small town in the rawalpindi district was predominantly inhabited by Sikhs. they owned and operated the Khalsa high school. I remember a beautiful palace, damdama, owned by Sardar Sajjan Singh located at brim of a water channel called Harr. While the Khalsa school was better in academics, I went to the district Board (dB) high school Kallar. the relationship between both schools were cordial and we often played friendly matches in various sports. I joined the dB high school in grade 5. the school always faced shortage of staff and faculty. Still, we had notable teachers such as Mr fazil Qureshi who taught english and focused more on handwriting than textbooks. When our Math teacher died of snake bite, we were without one for a long time. After retirement of Mr Qureshi, who retired when I was in grade 7, our headmaster Lala rulla ram taught english till appointment of a new teacher, Mr Qazi, who was fond of wearing Western dresses. Later, both Mr Qazi and Mr rulla ram were transferred. At that time Mr Gulfraz Chaudhary joined our school. He worked hard to prepare us for matriculation exams, and our school showed remarkable improvement in Matriculation examinations as compared to previous years. I am forever indebted to him and other teachers who taught us. More than seventy years have passed by, but my old school has only been upgraded to Inter level.

Unfortunately, I have no clue as to what happened to the Khalsa High school after partition. Unfortunately, my school has regressed in terms of quality and facilities, while our political leaders sing of progress in every sector.

RAJA ShAFAATuLLAh Islamabad

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

10 NEWS

Bolivia moves to end power vacuum as morales condemns 'sneaky coup' SUCRE

Fireworks expected as televised Trump impeachment hearings open WASHINGTON: Donald Trump faces the most perilous challenge of his three-year presidency as public hearings convened as part of the impeachment probe against him open under the glare of television cameras on Wednesday. Democrats who control the House of Representatives plan to prove over several weeks of hearings that the US leader abused his office by seeking Ukraine’s help for his 2020 reelection campaign, and sought to extort his Kiev counterpart into finding dirt on Democratic rival Joe Biden. Trump says the inquiry is “corrupt” and “illegal,” and maintains he did nothing wrong. In a late-night tweet on the eve of the hearings, he retweeted a lengthy Fox News segment assailing the proceedings as a “phony showtrial” staged by “raging psychotic Democrats.” The investigation threatens to make Trump only the third US president to be impeached, after Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998, although to be removed from office he would need to be convicted by the Republican-led Senate. Neither Johnson or Clinton was convicted and removed. But in 1974 Richard Nixon resigned in the face of certain impeachment and removal from office for the Watergate scandal. “On the basis of what the witnesses have had to say so far, there are any number of potentially impeachable offenses: including bribery, including high crimes and misdemeanors,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, who will lead the hearings, told NPR radio.

Hearings are expected to be fiery as a series of government officials take the stand to testify on Trump’s Ukraine machinations during the middle of this year. Coming just one year before national elections, the hearings carry great risks for both parties and no certain reward, with a divided US electorate weary of Washington infighting. Polls show a slim majority of Americans favor impeaching the president. But they also show that Trump’s sizable voter base, which delivered his shock victory in 2016, rejects the allegations. Trump has focused his personal defense on ensuring Republicans in Congress heed their views. Republicans accuse the soft-spoken and prosecutorial Schiff of an unfair and unconstitutional process. They have also sought, in closed door depositions over the last six weeks, to refocus attention on Biden’s link, through his son, to Ukraine, and on the widely discredited theory Trump apparently believes that Ukraine assisted Democrats in the 2016 election. But Schiff has said he will not put up with attempts to hijack the hearings and turn them into a political circus. Democrats have amassed evidence that Trump sought to leverage Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s desire for a meeting between the two leaders and for some $391 million in aid to get Ukraine to find dirt on Biden, who could face Trump in next year’s presidential election. AGENCIES

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senator proclaimed herself Bolivia’s interim president Tuesday in an effort to fill the power vacuum left by the abrupt resignation of Evo Morales, who immediately condemned the move as a “sneaky coup.”

Lawmakers had been summoned to formalize the resignation and confirm deputy Senate speaker Jeanine Anez, 52, as interim president.

Instead, Anez declared herself interim president when the session failed to reach a quorum of lawmakers, many staying away amid blockades and continuing protests by Morales supporters.

The Constitutional Court later endorsed her appointment.

“We want to call new elections as soon as possible,” Anez said in a speech to Congress, with only Morales opponents present.

“It’s a commitment we have made to the country and of course, we will fulfill it,” she said. Later, clutching a bible and wearing the presidential sash over her black jacket, the senator addressed supporters from the balcony of the government palace.

Anez said earlier she was confident that enough senators would reach the Senate to form a quorum — 19 of the 36 were needed to do so. Tweeting from exile in Mexico, Morales immediately condemned what he called “the sneakiest, most nefarious coup in history.”

Morales called Anez “a coup-mongering right-wing senator” and said she had “declared herself… interim president without a legislative quorum, surrounded by a group of accomplices.”

Leaders of the biggest party, Morales’

Movement for Socialism (MAS), had requested guarantees to be able to attend the session, but stayed away. Security forces fired tear gas in street clashes in La Paz immediately after the Congress session.

Carlos Mesa, the centrist candidate defeated by Morales in the tainted October 20 presidential elections, tweeted his congratulations to Anez, who has promised a new government would be installed by January 22. Powerful opposition figure Luis Fernandez Camacho, regional leader in eastern department of Santa Cruz, announced he had lifted strikes and blockades called three weeks ago in protest at Morales’ disputed re-election. Morales resigned after losing the support of the security forces, leaving the country suddenly rudderless.

Dozens of officials and ministers also

stepped down, some seeking refuge in foreign embassies. Anez found herself next in line to take over after the resignations of vice president Alvaro Garcia Linera, the Senate president, and the speaker of the lower house of Congress.

Earlier Tuesday, Morales vowed to continue “the struggle” after arriving in Mexico where he has been granted political asylum.

Morales thanked left-wing ally and Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, saying “he saved my life,” and vowed to remain in politics despite having left his homeland.

Grinning and waving as he left the Mexican military plane that had picked him up from Bolivia late on Monday night, Morales was welcomed by Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard.

Bushfire threat still high as Australia clean up begins CANBERRA AGENCIES

Australians on Wednesday began sifting through the ashes of hundreds of bushfires that have ravaged the country, relieved that their worst fears were unrealised — but wary of a long and brutal summer ahead.

Firefighters were still battling 140 blazes across the country’s eastern seaboard, but a respite from “catastrophic” weather conditions meant the danger from many fires was downgraded.

The northern state of Queensland re-

mained on high alert, with residents on the north shore of popular holiday town Noosa told to “leave immediately” as an “unpredictable” fire was burning nearby.

But in the worst-hit areas of New South Wales, cooler southerly winds eased conditions — a stark contrast with the gale-force gusts and high temperatures that plagued firefighters for much of Tuesday.

In all, 50 homes were damaged or destroyed, and around 20 people were injured, but most populated areas were spared.

Residents of the small towns of Glenreagh and Nana Glen returned to

find houses intact, a nearby 150,000hectare (370,000-acre) inferno having stopped just short of their doors.

But on nearby farmland, unlucky families faced homes destroyed and cars transformed into blackened husks.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services acting commissioner Michael Wassing said another wind change on Wednesday afternoon could worsen several large fires in difficult-to-access areas of the state.

“We’ve got another tough day today and there’s an extended forecast that we’re not out of the woods by any means,” he said.

Greta Thunberg bound for Europe as new adventures await PARIS AGENCIES

“Extremely educational” is how Greta Thunberg sums up her North American sojourn as she prepares to cross the Atlantic once more, this time bound back for Europe. The 16-year-old Swede, who became world famous for founding the “school strikes for the climate,” will set sail Wednesday morning, weather permitting, after 11 hectic weeks of criss-crossing the US and Canada, making headlines at every turn.

She excoriated world leaders at the United Nations, met former US president Barack Obama, received the keys to the city of Montreal and road tripped across the continent in a Tesla electric car lent to her by actor and ex-governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But what did she make of the impact of the UN summit, the weekly student strikes, the protests where millions packed the streets worldwide to demand action against anthropogenic climate change?

“It depends,” she says in her usual matter-of-fact manner in an interview with AFP on board “La Vagabonde,” a sailboat

owned by a young Australian couple that will be her home for the next two to three weeks. She is wearing an oversized black windbreaker emblazoned with the words “Unite Behind The Science” as heavy, freezing rain pounds the hull.

“In one way, lots of things have changed, and lots of things have moved in the right direction, but also in a sense we have gone a few more months without real action being taken and without people realizing the emergency we are in,”

said the high-schooler, who will return to her education next year. She expresses her admiration for the people she met “who are living at the front line, and who are experiencing and living through the first consequences of the climate emergency” — such as fellow teen Tokata Iron Eyes of the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, who fought in vain to stop the construction of an oil pipeline on her homeland.

What did she learn from Obama? “It depends on how you define learning. I got an experience and he explained things to me, how it was to be in his position, how things work, and so on, so that, I guess.”

Her assessment of the presidents and prime ministers she encountered at the UN, meanwhile, was less than stellar.

“World leaders and people in power, politicians ask me for selfies and ask other climate activists for selfies because they want to look good next to us and say, ‘We care about the future of this planet, we care about future generations and young people today,'” she said, unsparingly.

She won’t mention names, but says “it was quite a lot.” Even those countries that have committed to net zero emissions by 2050, such as the United Kingdom and

New Zealand, are not doing “nearly enough,” she insists, adding that the media must do a better job of communicating why these targets aren’t sufficient to avert long-term climate disaster.

ASIA IN 2020: When it comes to Donald Trump, dubbed by critics as the “climatedenier-in-chief,” Greta suggests that, paradoxically, he may have helped galvanize the movement.

“He’s so extreme and he says so extreme things, so I think people wake up by that in a way,” she believes. She preferred not to dwell on a video clip of her appearing to glower at Trump at the UN that went viral on social media, saying she was simply surprised to see him.

“I wondered why he was there because the thing was that he was not supposed to be there,” she explained. “That was the news. So something must have changed his mind so that he showed up there.”

Six souls will set out on La Vagabonde: Elayna Carausu, 26, and her partner Riley Whitelum, 35, together with their 11-month-old boy Lenny; 26-yearold professional British sailor Nikki Henderson, who was called upon to help, Greta, and her father Svante.

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

BUSINESS 11 Italian delegation to visit Pakistan for B2B meetings, says envoy ISLAMABAD: Italian Ambassador Stefano Pontecorva said on Wednesday that Pakistan was now gaining importance and credibility for business and investment, adding that an Italian business delegation would visit Pakistan in the near future to hold business-to-business meetings. He was addressing business community during his visit to Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Italian envoy said Pakistan has the brightest entrepreneurs and they should focus on branding of their products to enhance exports. “Many foreign companies are importing Pakistani products and after rebranding them, are selling at exorbitant prices,” he noted. “By branding of products, Pakistan could witness a significant increase in its exports.” He said that Pakistani companies should upgrade their capacity to compete more effectively in world markets. The envoy expressed optimism on Pakistan’s economy, saying the country has great prospects to emerge as a strong economy in the region. He said Italy had strong defence cooperation with Pakistan while bilateral trade between the two countries was improving. Speaking on the occasion, ICCI President Muhammad Ahmed Waheed said that bilateral trade between Pakistan and Italy was around $1.2 billion last year, which was not reflective of the actual potential of both countries. He said that many Pakistani products including textiles and fabrics, leather products, sports goods, surgical instruments, footwear etc. could find good market in Italy. The ICCI president said that Italy has a huge number of SMEs and it could cooperate with Pakistan in setting up its SMEs on the same model. He identified IT, agriculture, marble and granite, automobiles etc. as potential areas of cooperation between the two countries. He said that Italian investors should come to Pakistan with technology transfer to setup joint ventures in areas of interest. “Both countries should encourage frequent exchange of trade delegations to explore new avenues of mutual cooperation,” he stated. APP

Brexit drove Tesla to pick Berlin over Britain for new factory LONDON: Britain missed its chance to host the first European factory of US electric vehicle pioneer Tesla because of Brexit, Chief Executive Elon Musk said in remarks reported on Wednesday. The company had earlier said it chose a location near Berlin for a new design centre and plant to make batteries, powertrains and vehicles, offering a major boost to the German capital.

Berlin’s minister in charge of economic affairs, Ramona Pop, said the move could create 6,000 to 7,000 jobs in production alone, with hundreds or even thousands more in areas such as design, software or research. “Brexit (uncertainty) made it too risky to put a Gigafactory in the UK,” Musk told industry website Auto Express. No one from Tesla was immediately available to comment.

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union has hurt foreign investment because the country’s future trading relationship with the EU is still not clear, more than three years after the referendum. Britain holds a parliamentary election in December in a bid to break the impasse.

Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said high levels of inward investment would return once terms of the withdrawal agreement have been settled. Major carmakers such as Nissan have said a disorderly departure from the bloc, where companies face tariffs after leaving the EU without a transition deal, would be unsustainable and jeopardise its entire business model.

Britain’s business minister Andrea Leadsom said the government was aware that the uncertainty over Brexit is causing investment to be put hold and that is why the upcoming election is needed. “We need a Conservative government to get Brexit done with a deal and end the uncertainty,” she said. But the opposition Liberal Democrats said the decision shows Johnson’s “deluded plans are already costing the country vital investment and making us all poorer”. AGENCIES

PM wanTs FBR To ResToRe PeoPle’s conFIdence In TaxaTIon sysTeM

ISLAMABAD

P

STAFF REPORT

RIME Minister Imran Khan has termed tax collection as a key driver for economic stability, saying that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) must play a significant role in this regard.

Addressing a gathering of the FBR officials on Wednesday, the PM tasked the FBR officials to devise strategies that could restore people’s confidence in the tax machinery. He also directed the officials to enhance their performance and ensure easy tax payment system.

The PM assured that the FBR officials would be taken on board for tax reforms as “without the efficient functioning of FBR, the country could not achieve financial stability”.

He maintained that the incumbent government had inherited the biggest financial and current account deficits. Half of the tax collection, in the first year, was spent on debt servicing, he added. He said that tax collection of up to Rs8 trillion was not difficult “if all the stakeholders consider it as their national responsibility and sacred duty”. The PM observed that if steps for enhanced tax collection were not taken, things could get complicated in the future since revenue generation was vital for human resource development.

He cited the examples of Scandinavian countries, including Swe-

den and Norway, where “people pay taxes because they know that they would be spent on their welfare judiciously”. In Pakistan, he regretted, the past rulers took it as their prerogative to spend the public tax money on their personal requirements.

“The government, after coming into power, started an austerity drive, cutting down Rs350 million (expenditures) of the PM Office,” the informed the FBR officials.

“The federal government’s expenditures were slashed by Rs45 billion.”

The PM said that the government entities, including governor houses, would soon be converted into public places to further cut down the expenses. He cited the example of Governor House in Murree where a sum of Rs830 million alone was spent in the past for its renovation. He expressed the resolve that his government would spend the public money on the welfare and uplift of the public.

“My recent visit Washington costed $65,000 as compared to previous visits by Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, who spent $0.8 million and 0.7 million, respectively,” the PM said. “A huge amount of Rs50 billion was spent on advertisement by the previous rulers from the public tax money.”

The prime minister also responded to various queries and suggestions by the FBR officials.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcast-

‘AFTER ECONOMIC STABILITY, GOVT FOCUSED ON JOB CREATION’ ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has vowed to economically uplift the country by bolstering exports and attracting foreign investment. Addressing a tripartite signing ceremony between MSD Tire and Rubber Company, Doublestar China and Daewoo Pakistan Express Bus Service Limited on Wednesday, he said the government’s next challenge is to provide job opportunities to the youth by bringing in more investments. For this, he added, the government would fully facilitate the investors. The PM said the agreement signed today between Pakistani and Chinese companies is aimed at local production of tires. “This will not only help us reduce the import bill, but the export of tires will build up our foreign exchange reserves.” He welcomed Chinese investment in different sectors and said that Pakistan would encourage more Chinese investment by providing them with an enabling environment. He said several agreements have already been signed with China, adding that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor provides a platform to further bolster the economic partnership between the two countries.

The PM said the country’s economy has been stabilised as a result of measures taken by the government. “The current account deficit has been curtailed and the rupee has also stabilised. Positive sentiments are now also visible in the stock market,” he maintained. PM Imran was confident that Pakistan would achieve a higher growth rate than the one projected for the current fiscal year. “We are giving incentives to construction activities in order to uplift this important sector of the economy. We are also extending facilities to the investors.” The PM said that the world institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, have also endorsed that the country is heading towards the right direction. “The World Bank has improved our ease of doing business ranking by 28 points.” PPI

ing Dr Firous Ashiq Awan, Adviser on Finance Dr Hafeez Shaikh, FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi and Ad-

viser on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood were also present during the interaction.

‘38 mega projects to be completed in FY20’ ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister Imran Khan was briefed on Wednesday that a total of 170 projects would be completed during the ongoing fiscal year (FY20), out of which 38 were mega projects.

The PM was chairing a meeting to review progress on the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in Islamabad on Wednesday.

The meeting reviewed in detail the release of funds to various corporations and authorities, as well as satisfactory results of the block allocations to Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.

The PM was informed that an elaborate ex-

ercise has been carried out by the Planning Commission to extend support and facilitation to the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) and the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) projects.

“A specific monitoring and evaluation setup is being established at the Planning Commission to ensure completion of all these projects within the timelines,” it was informed.

The meeting was briefed that an amount of Rs701 billion has been allocated for development projects under the PSDP for FY20. It was apprised that powers have been given to the principal accounting officers for the release of funds for projects amounting less than Rs2 bil-

lion. Speaking on the occasion, the PM stressed the need for optimal and timely utilization of funds allocated by the federal government under the PSDP. He instructed the Planning Commission to come up with a monthly performance review report to determine the reasons behind the underutilisation of funds allocated for the vital PSDP programmes.

“Policies should be well-thought-out and harmonized so that desired results could be achieved,” he added. Imran Khan stressed the need to enhance coordination among the ministries for the early and effective completion of projects. He said economic development would ensure better opportunities for the country’s youth.

Alibaba launches $13.4bn Hong Kong listing to fund expansion HONG KONG AGENCIES

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group launched the share sale for its Hong Kong listing on Wednesday, braving unrest in the global financial hub to try to raise up to $13.4 billion to fund its expansion plans.

The stock is due to start trading on Nov. 26 in Hong Kong, according to a term-sheet seen by Reuters. The books for institutional investors looking to buy the shares opened during the New York trading session on Wednesday.

A 661-page draft prospectus for what looks set to be the world’s biggest cross-

border secondary listing shows Alibaba plans to use the money to invest in online delivery and local services platform Ele.me, as well as online travel group Fliggy. It will also spend more on developing Youku, which Alibaba says is one of the leading online video platforms in China. The plans come against the backdrop of slowing e-commerce industry in China, with Alibaba’s annual Singles’ Day shopping blitz recording its weakest sales growth since its 2009 debut.

The share sale, set to be Hong Kong’s largest in more than nine years, is a boost for the city. Hong Kong has sunk into its first recession in a decade as more than five months of street protests in which

more than 2,300 people have been arrested as of last month, and worries about the US-China trade war took their toll.

The progress of the protests is being monitored by Alibaba and its advisers, and is seen as a risk to the deal going ahead, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The institutional book-building for the listing will run for a week and the stock is expected to be priced on or around Nov. 20, two people with direct knowledge of the process said. A maximum price for the retail component of the deal will be announced next week, one said. The people could not be named because the information has not yet been

made public. The company also intends to increase its investment in cloud computing and machine learning, the prospectus shows. The Hangzhou-based company said Alibaba Cloud was currently the world’s third largest Infrastructure as a Service business, by US revenue in 2018, according to a study by Gartner.

The prospectus shows Alibaba has 960 million ‘digital economy users’ in China, including customers of its Ant Financial partnership. The company said its revenue was 410.8 billion yuan ($58.7 billion) for the year to June 30, 2019, and the total assets on its balance sheet were worth 1.01 trillion yuan.

DISCOUNT: Alibaba had been planning

to sell the shares earlier this year, but in August postponed the deal as the antigovernment protests rocking Hong Kong since June became increasingly violent.

However, a person familiar with the transaction said Alibaba was confident it could overcome the negative sentiment in Hong Kong financial markets caused by the demonstrations. Analyst James Cordwell from Atlantic Equities echoes the sentiment and said that an increasing likelihood of a deal in the US-China trade war in the next few weeks helped the company undertake the listing now. He said that while additional supply could weigh on the stock, over the longer run it could help the stock by broadening its investor base.

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

12 BUSINESS

ecc aPPRoves IncRease In wHeaT sUPPoRT PRIce By Rs50 PeR 40kg ISLAMABAD

T

GHULAM ABBAS

HE Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved a hike in the minimum support price of wheat by Rs50 per 40 kilogrammes, increasing the current rate from Rs1,300 per 40kg to Rs1,350 per 40kg with an aim “to safeguard the interests of the growers and ensure food security for the masses”.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the ECC held on Wednesday with Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the chair.

As per details, the ECC was informed that the minimum support price of Rs1,300 per 40kg for wheat had not been enhanced for the last five years. However,

in view of factors such as the world wheat situation, cost of production, export-import price parity and domestic prices, an appropriate support price for the next wheat crop was necessary to meet the cost of production, which had risen in 201920 to Rs1,349.57 per 40kg in Punjab and Rs1,315.72 per 40kg in Sindh.

The ECC, while considering the global wheat price hovering around Rs1,575 per 40kg (Rs1,440 per 40kg without duties and customs duties), decided to enhance the minimum support price for the next crop of wheat from the current Rs1,300 per 40kg to Rs1,350 per 40kg.

The ECC also asked the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to approach the provinces well in time to make adequate wheat procurement in the coming season. Meanwhile, the ECC considered a set of proposals by the Petroleum Division regarding the provision

of utilities, particularly the installation of gas connections, in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). After a detailed discussion on the matter, the ECC constituted a committee, to be headed by Adviser to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, to resolve the issues as pointed out during the discussion and bring a proposal in the next meeting for a decision.

The committee also took up a proposal by the Power Division for an amendment to the implementation agreement governing Thalnova Power Thar Private Limited and Thar Energy Limited by increasing the time period for exercise of the government’s right to terminate the both projects from 400 days to 490 days.

The ECC approved the proposal with a proviso that the Cabinet Division would take further input from the Planning Division and bring the matter back to the committee if there were substantive and

fundamental issues requiring further discussion. Moreover, the ECC considered and approved a proposal by the Ministry of Interior for release of funds through a technical supplementary grant to the tune of Rs670.553 million to KP Frontier Corps HQ (North), Peshawar.

The committee also took up a proposal by the Ministry of Industries and Production for grant of technical supplementary grant of Rs6 billion to the Utility Stores Corporation for subsidy and provision of essential commodities such as flour, sugar, ghee, rice and pulses at a fair price to the underprivileged sections of the society, in line with the package announced by the Prime Minister on 8th November 2019. The ECC, in order to ensure that this targeted subsidy reached the deserving, constituted a committee under Advisor to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood to come up within

COMMITTEE APPROVES COMPREHENSIVE FOURYEAR CIRCULAR DEBT CAPPING PLAN ECC CONSTITUTES COMMITTEE TO ENSURE PROVISION OF FACILITIES IN SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES the next few days with a realistic and foolproof method involving use of information technology to ensure the objective of the subsidy as announced by the Prime Minister was fully met.

The ECC also approved a detailed proposal based on a comprehensive fouryear Circular Debt Capping Plan presented by the Power Division to address the flow of the circular debt through effective efficiency improvement measures and effective implementation of the National Electricity Policy 2019.

oil falls as Us-china trade SECP witnesses 19 per cent surge in company registrations deal prospects dim

envoy calls for enhanced trade ties between Hungry, Pakistan ISLAMABAD: Hungarian Ambassador Szabó István has proposed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Hungarian Export Promotion Agency (HEPA) and Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP). In a meeting with Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood said on Wednesday, the envoy informed that Hungary has made impressive progress in the agriculture sector by introducing modern technology, research and good agricultural practices. He offered Pakistan technical assistance in the areas of agriculture, livestock, fisheries and food processing. The envoy stated that the inaugural session of Pak-Hungary Joint Economic Commission held in September this year in Budapest would pave way for enhanced economic cooperation between the two countries.

He further said that Hungary had already invested in the oil and gas sector of Pakistan and its company MOL is operating with local partners. Speaking on the occasion, Dawood said the government would extend full cooperation and support to strengthen trade and economic ties between the two countries.

The adviser informed that agriculture plays a pivotal role in the life of Pakistan’s economy as it accounts for around 20pc of GDP. “Agriculture not only furnishes food and raw material but also employment opportunities to a very large proportion of population as well,” he added. He expressed happiness over the presence of Hungarian National Trading House in Karachi. The Hungarian side may convey suitable dates for organising the first Pakistan-Hungary Business Forum in Pakistan and may also indicate the areas of interest. Both sides agreed to boost bilateral trade and investment through a proactive approach and improved engagement. APP

ISLAMABAD: The recent measures of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to make the process of companies’ incorporation easy and hasslefree has led to 19pc increase in the registration of new companies in October 2019, according to a statement issued by the commission on Wednesday. During the month under review, the SECP registered 1,659 new companies, raising the number of total registered companies to 107,062. In October 2019, 71pc companies were registered as private limited companies, 26pc were registered as single-member companies while three per cent were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, foreign companies and Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). Amongst new incorporations, 96pc companies were registered online while 43pc were registered on the same day. During the month, 98 foreign users completed their registration process from abroad. The trading sector took the lead with 288 incorporations, followed by IT with 203, services with 192, construction with 167, tourism with 94, real

estate development with 75, education with 62, food and beverages with 51, engineering with 49, marketing & development with 41, corporate agricultural farming with 40, transport with 33, textile with 31, pharmaceutical with 30, mining and quarrying with 28, communication with 27, chemical, fuel & energy, and logging with 24 each, healthcare with 23, auto and allied with 20, power generation with 14, cables and electric goods with 13, paper and board with 12, cosmetics and toiletries with 11 and 83 companies were registered in other sectors.

Foreign investment has been reported in 42 new companies. The investors belonged to Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Iran, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Norway, Oman, Qatar Singapore, UAE, UK and US. The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 618 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 441 and 289 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi, respectively. The CROs in Peshawar, Multan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Faisalabad, Quetta, and Sukkur registered 122, 65, 64, 37, 20 and 3 companies, respectively. STAFF REPORT

LONDON: Oil prices fell on Wednesday as prospects for a trade deal between the United States and China faded, weighing on the outlook for the global economy and energy demand. Brent crude futures fell $0.75, or 1.25pc, to $61.31 a barrel by 1030 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $56.30, down $0.5 or 0.9pc. “The expectations of an inventory build in the US and uncertainty over the OPEC+ strategy on output cuts and US-China trade deal are weighing on oil prices,” said analysts at ING including the head of commodity strategy Warren Patterson. The Secretary General of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammad Barkindo, said he was still confident the United States and China would reach a trade deal. “It will almost remove that dark cloud that had engulfed the global economy,” he said, adding that it was too early to discuss output policy of OPEC’s December meeting. In the United States, crude oil inventories were forecast to have risen for a third straight week last week, while refined products inventories likely declined, a preliminary Reuters’ poll showed on Tuesday. ANZ analysts said the prospects for US crude exports had turned bleak after shipping rates jumped last month. The American Petroleum Institute (API) was scheduled to release its data for the latest week at 4:30 pm EST on Wednesday, while the weekly report from the US Energy Information Administration is due at 11:00 am EST on Thursday. Separately, the Keystone oil pipeline that transports Canadian heavy crude to the United States has restarted operations following an oil spill 2 weeks ago. A forecast by the International Energy Agency for slower global oil demand growth post-2025 also weighed on the market. AGENCIES

MARKET DAILY

Stocks gain 401 points to storm past 37,000 level KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Bulls of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) took charge of the market once again on Wednesday after a range-bound session a day before. Indices that started the day on a negative note soon took a U-turn to surpass the 37,000 points mark.

Foreign investors ended up as net buyers for the fifth consecutive session on Tuesday with a net inflow of $1.22 million.

The condition of the auto sector continued to deteriorate further, as car sales plunged 55pc on a yearly basis to 9,569 units in October when compared with 21,342 units last year. The devaluation of Pak Rupee, an increase in the interest rate and

decline in consumer spending forced the assemblers to further raise the prices. According to latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis in the first four months of the current fiscal year (July-October FY20) dropped by two per cent. However, on a monthly basis, remittances grew by 14.46pc to $2 million in Oct. Pakistanis living in Saudi Arabia remitted the highest amount of $468.18 billion.

Losing 284.53 points, the KSE-100 Index marked its intraday low at 36,481.03. The index then shifted its course and crossed the 37,000-mark to reach its intraday high at 37,289.41 (+523.85 points).

It settled with a gain of 401.40 points at 37,166.96.

The KMI-30 Index appreciated by 596.80 points to end at 60,574.26, while the KSE All Share Index

gathered 223.41 points, closing at 26,400.68.

The overall trading volumes remained healthy and were recorded at 275.43 million. Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +4.29pc) turned out to be the volume leader of the day, followed by Worldcall Telecom (WTL -1.81pc) and TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG +2.98pc). The scripts had exchanged 16.46 million, 12.86 million and 11.08 million shares, respectively. Sectors that helped the index accumulate gains included banking (+152.07 points), oil and gas exploration (+74.05 points) and fertiliser (+41.89 points). Among the companies, Habib Bank Limited (HBL +63.74 points), Bank AL Habib Limited (BAHL +44.09 points) and Engro Corporation Limited (ENGRO +33.57) remained the top contributors of to the index.

SBP fines HBL over non-compliance of regulatory requirements KARACHI MEIRYUM ALI

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had fined Habib Bank Limited (HBL) an amount of Rs35.62 million on October 4 for violating regulations.

According to a notice issued by the SBP, the penalty was imposed mainly on the “deficiencies” in HBL’s foreign exchange operations and Customer Due Diligence (CDD).

“The bank has been advised

timelines to bring improvements in its systems/controls to avoid recurrence of such lapses/violations in future,” the notice read. When reached for comment, HBL said in an email that the fine was regarding a specific set of transactions between 2015 and 2017.

“Transactional irregularities were detected in a few of our branches in Lahore. Some bank staff, acting illegally, in their individual capacity, undertook transactions that negatively impacted the bank,” the email said.

In response, HBL filed a complaint with the police, and an FIR was registered. The case is still being investigated by agencies.

“The bank endeavours to be compliant with all regulatory requirements. We take such matters very seriously,” the email added.

This is not the first time the central bank has fined HBL. On August 2-3, 2019, the SBP imposed a penalty of Rs320.08 million on HBL for violating regulations on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating Fi-

nancing of Terrorism (CFT) regulations. As per the SBP, HBL had also violated consumer protection regulations, specifically for “erroneous deduction of service charges from customers”.

According to HBL, the bank has been transforming its compliance systems to adhere to international standards since early 2018 and is strengthening its AML and CFT protocols by partnering with global experts. The news of the most recent fine comes on the heels of increased regulation and

fines imposed by the SBP in the last few months, through its offsite supervision and enforcement department.

The SBP has become more vigilant about complying with international standards due to Pakistan being included on the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list. The country has until February 2020 to complete the FATF’s action plan. In September 2019, the SBP fined three banks a total of Rs133.3 million; Meezan Bank Ltd, Askari Bank Ltd, and

MCB Islamic Bank Ltd. The penalty was imposed over violations by all three banks in Know Your Customer (KYC) and CDD. In August 2019, the SBP imposed a total penalty of Rs805 million on 10 banks, including HBL, mostly for violating AML and CFT regulations. In July 2019, the SBP fined four banks a total of Rs184 million; the Bank of Punjab, JS Bank Ltd, Bank Al Habib Ltd, and Soneri Bank Ltd. The penalties were mostly for violating AML and KYC.

Burpees for Breast CanCer

COKE STUDIO ALL SET TO RELEASE EPISODE FOUR OF SEASON 12 Coke Studio will be releasing the fourth episode of Season 12 on 15th November 2019, featuring Gulon Main Rang by Ali Sethi with Shahzad Ali and Fazal Abbas, Dhola by Sahir Ali Bagga and Aima Baig, and Hairaan Hua by Sanam Marvi.

By Jannat aseem

W

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

Ho all were there to experience the largest ever female fitness event?

The Burpees for Breast Cancer was conducted for two reasons: firstly to increase awareness about breast cancer and secondly to make a statement about how fitness for women can also be fun.

Not only was it a fitness and fun oriented event but it was actually for a good cause. The cause was breast cancer and to create awareness amongst our community where Scaryammi lined up with Aimfit where Nestle and Chughtai Lab sponsored the event. Adding to this, our partners for the event included: Pink ribbon, Nishat Emporium, Haraki, SoCo, Cancer Care, Meraki, Shopper’s stop, Qalbish, Alanzay salon and the Media partners were’ FM 89, Daily Paperazzi, Pakistan Today and City 42.

The event was jointly organized by Scaryammi, a mothering blog, and Aimfit, the largest female oriented fitness facility in Lahore. The aim of this event was two-fold, says The original Scaryammi Ayesha Nasir.

The largest ever female fitness event where more than 300 women participated, took place on the 9th of November at Nishat Emporium. The event kicked off by a little speech by the amazing model/actress/ammi Vaneeza Ahmed where she encouraged the women present at the event to take effective measures to keep themselves safe and secure from breast cancer.

"This event was truly history in the making. Never have so many women ever gathered together under one roof for a fitness-oriented event! It was an unbelievable sight to see hundreds of women moving in unison, getting out of

breath, doing burpees and squats, urging each other on and just making fitness such an adrenaline pumped experience."

The workout started with a warm up routine and the fun gradually built up when the founders of Aimfit, Mahalaqa Shaukat and Noor-ul-ain Shaukat took to the stage along with half a dozen team members and started the party. They started the routine with super intense but effective burpees exercises which was the main highlight of the event.

"The Burpees for Breast Cancer has set a new milestone in the female fitness industry in Pakistan," said Mahlaqa Shaukat, CEo AimFit. "We have never in the history of female fitness ever had so many women getting together simply to promote fitness and make a statement for breast cancer awareness."

The fun and excitement further escalated when the dance fit session came as a surprise element and the songs chosen were the all-time favorite dance numbers such as ‘Dilbar Dilbar’ and our local favorite ‘Haaye Dil’.

"I have not been to the gym in three years but today I had so much fun coming here and working out," said Aisha Khattak, who was breathless and holding her side to relieve the pain. "It's a lot of hard work but oh my God, so much fun."

Another contestant who was exhausted and lying down flat on the floor said this was the best ever event she had attended in a long time. "This event was unbelievable. My heart rate went up! My muscles are aching! I am so exhausted. But it was the best event I have attended."

Moreover, the participants were wearing super cute T-shirts given by us as part of the goodies. The fun continued to a lavish Hi-tea and the display stalls of the sponsoring brands.

Marvel Fans Ruined Zack Snyder's Justice League In what comes as no surprise, Kevin Feige's Marvel zombie audience is apparently responsible for ruining Zack Snyder's Justice League movie.

I refer to them as "zombies" because they eat up everything Marvel even if it's not any good and follow the masses much like a brain dead zombie.

The info comes from Snyder's Justice League storyboard artist on Twitter, Jay oliva, who also happens to be known for directing some super cool DC animated films.

"I’m sure a lot of important WB execs are noticing what’s trending on social media. Why would an intern have to 'bug' a higher up about it?" olvia responded to a fan on Twitter. "Don’t you know what interns do at a studio? Execs have smartphones and are constantly on social media. Btw I worked on the SCooB movie." olvia continues with the mention that apparently the WB execs were influenced by social media to make Justice League more like a goofy Marvel movie.

Gulon Main RanG: Written by Faiz Ahmed Faiz and first sung in the voice of Mehdi Hassan Khan, Gulon Main Rang is a ghazal that shows the magic that is created when poetry joins music.

Written in 1954 during his imprisonment in Montgomery Prison, Gulon Main Rang showcases Faiz’s ability to interweave classical idioms of romance and Divine Love with those of revolution and social justice. The poetry implores one’s beloved to return so that colors would return to flowers and springtime would descend on the world. The writer is sad and lovelorn one moment, yearning to hear of their beloved, and optimistic the next, celebrating their own sacrifices in the name of love. Composed for Mehdi Hassan Khan in Raag Jhinjhoti, the ghazal was first aired on Radio Pakistan and then used in the soundtrack for the film Farangee in 1964. Gulon Main Rang remained an oft-requested part of Khan Sahab’s repertoire till the end of his career and is now being revived on Coke Studio in Ali Sethi’s voice. Coke Studio’s rendition of Gulon Mein Rang stays true to the traditional essence of the ghazal, featuring the harmonium and tabla, while refreshing it with contemporary instruments and accents. For Ali, doing a rendition of this ghazal is a chance for him to evolve as an artist by attempting to learn from the masters of bygone eras. As a student, he hopes that just in the process of attempting this ghazal, in the effort of doing it justice, he will learn and grow as an artist. “When you express your feelings through your voice and poetry, you are inviting people to recognize their own emotions. Music is a miracle. If you move someone’s heart with music, all differences between you and them are wiped away for a bit.” said Ali Sethi.

North Korea and Cuba are the only places you can't buy Coca-Cola No matter where you go, it's comforting to know you can always enjoy a Coca-Cola. Well, almost anywhere.

While this fizzy drink is sold practically everywhere, it still hasn't (officially) made its way to North Korea or Cuba, according to the BBC. That's because these countries are under long-term U.S. trade embargoes.

The entire world's population could fit inside Los Angeles The world's total population is more than 7.5 billion.

And obviously, that number sounds huge. However, it might feel a little more manageable once you learn that if every single one of those people stood shoulder-toshoulder, they could all fit within the 500 square miles of Los Angeles, according to National Geographic.

There are more twins now than ever before You might think twins are a rarity, but they're actually becoming more common than ever. "From about 1915, when the statistical record begins, until 1980, about one in every 50 babies born was a twin, a rate of 2 percent," writes Alexis C.

Zack Snyder Says Ezra Miller Is The Flash With reports offering that The Flash movie may be delayed yet again, and with a question out there if Ezra Miller will be remaining on in the role, director Zack Snyder takes to the Vero app to release new images of Ezra Miller.

"Miller is The Flash," Snyder posted, with a second image from Batman vs. Superman featuring Ezra Miller as Barry Allen.

"Five years ago we shot in Michigan." Zack Snyder also recently posted a pic of Ezra Miller as Barry Allen with Kiersey Clemons as Iris West. "Cute couple," Snyder commented on Thursday, which saw The Snyder Cut go viral on Twitter with Jason Momoa also coming out in support of the release by posting an Aquaman vs Steppenwolf pic from the Snyder Cut of Justice League.

IT director Andy Muschietti is supposed to be directing and teases that it won't be similar to his horror flicks (perhaps shooting down the notion of a Flashpoint).

"An element of horror? I don’t think so," Muschietti said."

What captivated me about the Flash is the human drama in it.

The human feelings and emotions that play in the drama [of it].

It’s going to be fun, too. I can’t promise that there will be any horror [elements in it], really, but it’s a beautiful human story.”

CMYK

Deepika Padukone on working with Ranveer Singh after marriage Bollywood couple Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s wedding was nothing short of a fairytale. While they were coy about admitting their relationship before their marriage, post it, they have been setting major couple goals painting the town red as well as social media. And Deepika says the past one year has been a lot of “fun.”

“Before marriage, we kept it very traditional in a way that we didn’t want to live in with each other and discover each other before we got married. I think we are both quite traditional that way. Discovering aspects about each other and, living with each other has been so much fun,” gushes the 33-year-old.

Their two-day wedding celebrations in Lake Como had two ceremonies – the first was a traditional Konkani Brahmin style wedding on November 14, followed by Anand Karaj the next day.

While their wedding was an elaborate affair which was followed by multiple receptions, the couple is keeping things very low-key family affair for their anniversary celebrations.

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

14 SPORTS

THieM inTo ATP FinAlS SeMiS AS DjoKovic AnD FeDerer FAce SHooTouT LONDON

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AGENCIES

OMINIC Thiem produced a scintillating display of attacking tennis to beat Novak Djokovic and qualify for the last four at the ATP Finals on Tuesday, leaving the Serbian facing a shootout against Roger Federer.

In the standout match so far at London's O2 Arena, the Austrian fifth seed took the fight to the world number two, recovering from losing the first set to triumph 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) Earlier, Federer put himself back in the mix at the end-of-season event with a 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 win against Italian debutant Matteo Berrettini in their round-robin clash. Federer and Djokovic will face off on Thursday in a repeat of this year's Wimbledon final to determine who else will progress from Group Bjorn Borg.

Thiem was forced to play highstakes tennis against the 16-time Grand Slam winner, taking the breath away with some of his inside-out forehands and single-handed backhands. Forced to play at his limit, he hit 50 winners compared with Djokovic's tally of 27 but also racked up 44 unforced errors. "This

was really one of these special matches, what I've practised all my life for, all my childhood for," Thiem said. "Really epic one in an amazing atmosphere, beating a legend of our game. And also I've qualified for the semi-finals, which is the best. “Coming back from 1-4 (down in the deciding tie-break) was a little bit of luck, but it was an unbelievable match and one I'll never forget.

Novak is the best player in the world

and I had to do something special."

In a captivating first set the players swapped a break apiece but Djokovic, a five-time ATP Finals champion, edged the tie-break. Undaunted, Thiem broke his opponent at the first opportunity in the second set and, with Djokovic's error count climbing, went on to level the match. Thiem also drew first blood in the decider but cracked in the sixth game as Djokovic levelled the match

and appeared to have engineered a switch in momentum. The Austrian successfully challenged at 30-30 in the 10th game after his forehand was ruled out, preventing a match point for Djokovic and he toughed it out to level at 5-5. He then broke Djokovic to love to earn a chance to serve for the match but stumbled and the decider went to a tie-break. Still the drama was not finished. Thiem slipped to 4-1 down but battled back to win it on his second match point when Djokovic dumped a forehand into the net.

FEDERER STAYS ALIVE: Third seed Federer had put himself under the cosh by losing his opening round-robin match to Thiem. The six-time champion was not at his fluent best on Tuesday but ultimately had too much for his Italian opponent. The Swiss upped his game to take the first set tie-break comfortably and broke immediately at the start of the second set to leave the bigserving Berrettini with too much to do.

Federer was asked after his win against Berrettini whether his defeat to Djokovic at Wimbledon had left emotional or mental scars. "We'll find out, but I think it's all flushed away from my side," said the Swiss.

Spain’s record scorer striker Villa retires after 19-year career BARCELONA AGENCIES

Kohli hails courageous Maxwell for taking mental health break

Star striker David Villa, Spain's top goalscorer, Wednesday announced he will retire next month, ending a glittering career in which he won the World Cup, European Championships and Champions League. The 37-year-old Vissel Kobe striker said he will call it a day at the end of the 2019 J-League season after a 19-year career that took in Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Valencia while accumulating 98 caps for his country.

"I have decided to end my professional career and that I have decided

to retire," Villa told reporters in Kobe, his voice occasionally breaking with emotion. "I've been thinking about this for a long time. This is the result of discussions I had with my family and people around me... I wanted to retire from football, not be forced to retire from football," he said. Villa will become an investor in Queensboro FC, a new franchise based in the New York district of Queens that will play in the second tier of US football.

"Even though I will no longer be on the pitch, I will continue to be involved in football in other ways and will continue to contribute to the football world," he said. Villa played

MUMBAI AGENCIES

India skipper Virat Kohli Wednesday lauded Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell's courage to take a break from cricket because of mental health issues and said international players should be looked after. Maxwell, one of the world's best batsman in the shortest format, left Australia's Twenty20 squad last month during a series against touring Sri Lanka.

The move by the 31-year-old Maxwell was backed by his team and support staff with Cricket Australia saying he was a "special player" and they hoped to see him back in the summer. Kohli praised Maxwell for putting his health before the game. "I am absolutely for it," Kohli said ahead of India's first Test against Bangladesh in Indore starting Thursday. "I think what Glenn has done is remarkable and has set the right example for cricketers all over the world." He added: "I think these things should be respected and not taken in a negative way."

Discussion of stress-related problems is uncommon in the sub-continent, even though players from other countries have quit tours because of mental health issues.

Jonathan Trott returned home from England's tour of Australia in 2013 with a stress-related illness. England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff admitted to dealing with depression and speculated that it may have been behind his prolonged drinking bouts as captain of a whitewashed England side during the 2006-07 tour of Australia.

Kohli recounted his own inhibitions during his 2014 tour of England when he managed just 134 runs from 10 innings with an highest score of 39. "I have gone through a phase in my career where it was the end of the world," said Kohli.

in three World Cups and was a member of the Spanish side that lifted the trophy in 2010 and won the European Championships in 2008, though he missed out on the 2012 triumph through injury. He scored 59 times for Spain, a national record.

His club honours include the 201011 Champions League, the 2011 UEFA Super Club, 2011 Club World Cup and two La Liga wins in 201011 and 2012-13 with Barcelona.

Villa scored the third goal for Barcelona at Wembley in the 3-1 win over Manchester United in the 201011 Champions League Final. He won a third La Liga with Atletico Madrid in his one season there in 2013-14 after leaving Barcelona.

After leaving Atletico, Villa embarked on a successful spell in Major League Soccer for New York City, where he scored 80 goals in 124 appearances. Villa was New York City's first-ever signing and his haul included the first goal scored at Yankee Stadium in an opening home victory over the New England Revolution. At Vissel Kobe, he played alongside fellow Spanish legend Andres Iniesta and German striker Lukas Podolski but the presence of the ageing foreign stars has done little to bring success to the ambitious Japanese club.

Waqar Younis bags Bradman Honouree title International Cricket’s Hall of Fame Bradman Museum honoured Pakistan’s bowling coach Waqar Younis for his services to cricket on and off the field.

Younis is the first Pakistani to receive the honouree bat which features the original signature of the late Sir Donald Bradman as well as his own along with two handpainted portraits of the former cricketers.The ‘Burewala Express’ was honoured at 13th annual Bradman Gala Dinner at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

The Bradman Honouree is a distinguished title which is given to two named personalities in the cricketing fraternity each year. The honourees are chosen on behalf of their services to the sport along with values, determination and humility as exemplified by the Test batting legend Sir Bradman. Notable names such as Sachin Tendulkar, Mark Anthony and Adam Gilchrist have been the recipients of the honourable title. SPORTS DESK

Saima Manzoor hopeful for gold medal, record at South Asian Games Professional weightlifter Saima Manzoor has set her sight on winning a gold medal at the South Asian Games which will start from December 1 in Nepal. The 25-yearold who boasts many records in the 55kg weight category, recently won a gold medal at the National Games before being selected for the South Asian Games. The national weightlifter said that she aims to bag a gold medal as well as break a record in the upcoming games. "I have won gold at the National Games and now my next target is the South Asian Games. Not only do I intend on winning gold, I am aiming to break a record. I’m sure that I’ll succeed," she said. Manzoor hails from a family of weightlifters. Her father, Muhammad Manzoor was a former Olympian and represented Pakistan at the 1976 Olympics. Added to this, he had competed in many national competitions.

Manzoor said that she drew her passion for the sport from her father and hoped that she would be able to represent the country in a positive manner. SPORTS DESK

Iraqis aim to rekindle protests with Iran football match BAGHDAD AGENCIES

For Iraqis opposed to the Baghdad government and its sponsor Tehran, there is even more than football at stake when Iraq faces Iran in a World Cup qualifier on Thursday. Anti-regime rallies at the epicentre of protests in the capital's Tahrir Square have faded in recent days, following a spree of arrests, threatening messages and killings of activists.

Hussein Diaa hopes that victory over Iran, in the match whose venue has been changed to neighbouring Jordan, could light a fire under the weeks-long protest movement.

"If our team beats Iran, it will bring more people out onto the streets and lift protesters' spirits," said the 24-year-old, kicking a football around in Tahrir.

Behind him stood Al-Jumhuriyah bridge, the main frontline between

angry protesters and security forces using tear gas, live rounds and at times machine-gun fire. "Our players have to give their all so we can hold our heads up high and confront Iran," said Diaa.

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Demonstrators have criticised Iran for backing the very government they want to bring down, accusing Tehran of economic and political overreach in Iraq.

The two countries fought a 1980-

1988 war and were rivals under Saddam Hussein, but the predominantly Shiite states have grown close since the dictator was ousted in the 2003 US-led invasion. The ensuing years saw Iraq swept up in sectarian violence and a war against the Islamic State group, and FIFA banned international football matches on its territory. The match between the two football-mad nations was to have been played in the southern port city of Basra. But FIFA said it had assessed "the current security situation in Iraq" and informed the local federation that upcoming matches "must be played on neutral ground".

It accepted Iraq's proposal to change the venue to Amman. FIFA's decision came as a blow to Iraq after global football's governing body had only earlier this year finally lifted a three-decade ban on it hosting internationals for safety reasons.

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

SPORTS 15

MiSBAHul HAq exPecTS GooD reSulTS FroM 'AMBiTiouS' PAKiSTAn TeST SiDe LAHORE

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AGENCIES

ISBAH-UL-HAQ, Pakistan's head coach and chief selector, was the captain of the national side that last toured Australia, in 2016-17, when they were swept aside 3-0. A number of players in the current squad, including Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and Shan Masood, were a part of that tour. With the experience and learnings from that series, Misbah feels this "ambitious team" can go on to get "good results" this time around.

"For Asian teams in Australia, it's always difficult. But overall, the best thing for us is that our batting line-up is experienced," Misbah said in Perth.

"Our boys who have toured previously scored runs here. Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Shan Masood had a good time on the bouncy tracks in South Africa [in 2018-19], so looking forward, we have a good mature team. We have got good, young fast bowlers and Yasir Shah was there with us last time.

When [you] have such an ambitious team, you expect good results. The fast

bowlers are energetic, and all the players are expected to play well in the conditions."

In 2016, Pakistan were unable to pick up all 20 Australian wickets in any of the three Tests, but Misbah believes the current fast-bowling unit is capable of doing better. "Our young fast bowlers and spinner Yasir Shah are our biggest positives," he said. "He [Yasir] is aware of Australian conditions and he also had better preparation playing do-

mestic cricket at home. He bowled lengthy spells there and he exactly knows what was missing during his previous tour here. So, I am hoping that our preparation are better than before.

"It's important for us to take 20 wickets, because you can't win without it. I feel our batting line-up is capable enough to put up 400-450 runs on the board, so it will also help our bowlers."

Pakistan have made a number of changes in their bowling department,

with the experienced Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz having quit the longer format to focus on white-ball cricket.

Apart from Shah, their ace legspinner, the squad is centered on young fast bowlers. Sixteen-year old Naseem Shah and 18-year-old Muhammad Musa have earned their maiden call-ups, while Imran Khan, who last played during Pakistan's last tour of Australia, has been recalled and has done brilliantly in the ongoing tour game.

But with Pakistan having lost 2-0 in the T20I series, will the inexperience dent their confidence? "Overall, when you try out different options and search for solutions you have go through all of that," Misbah said.

"Obviously, when you are settled, you get the results but if you want to improve a few things, you should also think about the future for back-ups. If you need to try new players, you need to look past that [the loss]. Obviously, we were looking to win those games but we were looking far ahead by giving few players the experience they need. There are a lot of positives for us, and this is definitely going to help Pakistan in future."

Bismah Maroof to continue with captaincy till Women's T20 World Cup 2020 Pooran banned for four T20is for ball tampering LUCKNOW AGENCIES

West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran has been banned from four T20Is after being found guilty of attempting to change the condition of the ball during West Indies' third ODI against Afghanistan on Monday. Pooran admitted the charge, which deals with a breach of level 3 of the ICC's Code of Conduct, and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Chris Broad.

He had violated Article 2.14 of the code, which relates to "changing the condition of the ball" after video footage showed him scratching the surface of the ball with his thumbnail.

The charge was levelled by on-field umpires Bismillah Shinwari and Ahmed Durrani and third umpire Ahmed Pakteen as well as fourth umpire Izatullah Safi. Pooran will now miss West Indies' three-match T20I series against Afghanistan and the first game of their subsequent three-match series against India. He will also have five demerit points added to his record. The earliest he will be available to play for West Indies is the second T20I against India, on December 8 in Thiruvananthapuram. Calling his act "an extreme error in judgement", Pooran said he accepted the penalty while promising this incident was a one-off. "I want to issue a sincere apology to my teammates, supporters and the Afghanistan team for what transpired on the field of play on Monday in Lucknow," Pooran said. "I recognise that I made an extreme error in judgement and I fully accept the ICC penalty. I want to assure everyone that this is an isolated incident and it will not be repeated. I promise to learn from this and come back stronger and wiser."

West Indies had completed a 3-0 sweep against Afghanistan in the ODIs, winning the third game by five wickets with eight balls to spare.

Bismah Maroof has been retained as captain of the women's team till next year's World T20 World Cup, while Iqbal Imam has been appointed as the head coach of national women’s team for the tournament scheduled to be held in Australia from February 21 to March 8, a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) press release said on Wednesday. Maroof who has participated in 105 ODIs and 103 T20Is, was first appointed as captain in the T20I format in 2016 for the tour of England, before taking over as ODI captain post-ICC Women’s World Cup 2017.

To date, she has led Pakistan in 15 ODIs and 33 T20Is. "It is truly an honour for me to be continuing as Pakistan’s captain and I look forward to leading the side in the next year’s T20 World Cup," said Maroof. "The team is in good shape and has produced some good performances recently. There’s a great deal of talent and passion in the girls and I look forward to carrying the momentum to the World Cup," she added. Former cricketer Iqbal Imam played 147 first-class matches from 1989 to 2005 during which he scored 6,249 runs and took 136 wickets.

He was named as the batting coach in April and was made interim head coach for the recent home series against Bangladesh after Mark Coles resigned from the position. "It is cer-

tainly an honour for me to be appointed as a head coach for the women’s side," the batting coach said. “Women’s cricket in Pakistan is improving day-by-day and we have a lot of talented girls emerging. Our team has gotten off to a decent start this season by beat Bangladesh in T20I series and levelling the ODI series," he said.

Imam added, “There’s a great potential in the side to do wonders and I aim to bring the best out of them.”

Chief Selector of women's cricket Urooj Mumtaz congratulated Maroof

and said the women's side of the sport has seen improvement over the years.

"I congratulate Bismah Maroof and Iqbal Imam on their appointments," said Mumtaz. "It is the dream of every cricketer to lead their nation in a world event and I am certain that Bismah is a good fit for the job. She has been at the helm for some years and she has grown as a leader," she said. "There has been a significant improvement in the performances of the women’s side of-late and her vast experience of international cricket is certainly going to benefit the team," she added.

PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan too hailed the skipper and head coach and expressed his confidence over the two to take women's cricket to new heights.

"Bismah Maroof and Iqbal Imam have put in the hard yards to be where they are today and I am very confident that the national women’s team will thrive under them," said Khan.

"Iqbal has been with the team since April and he understands the demands of the job. He has the desired skillset and was right up there amongst the candidates who applied for the job. “The Pakistan team showed improvements in their T20I and ODI series against Bangladesh under him and I hope that he will be able to carry forward the momentum gained from them.” SPORTS DESK

Hajra Khan feels disrespected over mismanagement in national Games Captain of the national women's football team Hajra Khan has expressed anger over the lack of professionalism displayed during the ongoing National Games in Peshawar. In a series of Tweets, Khan, who is leading the Army’s women team, highlighted Pakistan Football Federation's failure to inform her team regarding a change in a match schedule after which she was left feeling "disrespected".

“Woke up prepared for an 11am game. Got to the field at 9.30am only to find out the match had been rescheduled to 2pm. PFF conveyed this revision to the officials yesterday over WhatsApp which was not directly passed on to the teams or players,” she tweeted. “I have never felt as disrespected for serving this country as I have in the last couple of days. “I have always said this and I'll say it again, the day this country starts giving back to its athletes - it'll be a whole new ball game." The 25-year-old had also attached a picture of a WhatsApp message sent to games officials by a PFF official. SPORTS DESK

Katy Perry to perform at Women's T20 World cup final

SYDNEY AGENCIES

American popstar Katy Perry announced Wednesday she will be performing at the final of the Women's T20 World Cup in Melbourne next March before an expected record crowd on International Women's Day. "Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!" Perry said in an Instagram post using the Australian sporting chant. "Let's break some records join me in Melbourne on March 8, 2020 for the ICC @T20WorldCup Women's Final.

We'll Roar in support of these awesome women on International Women's Day!"

Nowhere-to-hide test for Bangladesh as India look to extend stellar home record INDORE AGENCIES

Thirty-two Test matches, 26 wins, five draws, one defeat.

That's India's home record since the start of 2013. They have just dismantled South Africa in the most ruthless manner imaginable. They have won every Test so far in their 2019-21 World Test Championship cycle so far, and have 240 points from two series.

All those imposing facts stare Bangladesh in the eye as they begin a two-match series against the world's best Test team. As if the odds for them weren't bad enough, Bangladesh are without two of their most talismanic cricketers, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.No one is giving Bangladesh a

chance to get anything out of this series, but tours like this one can help cricketers discover hidden depths within themselves. They will need to be prepared for

CMYK

long and unforgiving days on the field, and nowhere-to-hide examinations of their batting techniques, but if they embrace the challenge, they will view it as

a chance for a group of talented young players to make a name for themselves, and for a couple of older heads to burnish their reputations.

Given the tinge of green on the pitch, Virat Kohli has said India are likely to play three fast bowlers. This means they will most likely retain the five-bowler combination they played in their last two Tests against South Africa.

PITCH AND CONDITIONS: The pitch in Indore is usually a good one to bat on, with a bit of bounce to encourage stroke-making. There was a fair amount of grass on the surface on the eve of the match, so some early help for the fast bowlers can be expected. The weather should be warm but pleasant, with clear skies and afternoon temperatures in the high 20s (Celsius).

Thursday, 14 November, 2019

NEWS Army denies it's amending a ct to let Jadhav appeal in civil court RAWALPINDI STAFF REPORT

Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor on Wednesday dismissed “speculations” regarding amendment to the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) as “incorrect”. “Speculations for amendment in Pakistan Army Act to implement International Court of Justice (ICJ) verdict regarding convicted Indian terrorist Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav are incorrect,” Ghafoor said on Twitter.

“Various legal options for review and reconsideration of the case are being considered. Final status shall be shared in due course of time.”The clarification comes after some local and Indian media outlets, quoting sources, reported that an amendment would soon be made to the act.

“The Pakistan government will be making amendments in the Army Act and let Kulbashan Jadhav appeal against his conviction in a civilian court,” India Today had claimed. Jadhav — a serving commander of the Indian Navy associated with Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing — was arrested on March 3, 2016, from Balochistan on allegations of espionage and terrorism. In his trial at a military court, Jadhav had confessed to his involvement in terrorist plots and was sentenced to death in 2017. ICJ, after being approached by India, had ordered a stay in his execution through an interim order. On July 17, the international court had ruled that Jadhav be allowed consular access immediately and asked Pakistan to ensure “effective review and reconsideration of his conviction and sentences”. The ICJ, however, rejected all other remedies sought by India, which included the annulment of the military court decision convicting Jadhav, restricting Pakistan from executing the sentence, securing Jadhav’s release and ordering his return to India.

At least 7 killed in Kabul car bomb blast

DeADlocK persists over NAwAz’s DepArture As goverNMeNt DeMANDs rs7bN iNDeMNity boND LAW MINISTER SAYS GOVT HAS DECIDED TO ALLOW ‘ONE-TIME’ PERMISSION TO FORMER PM TO GO ABROAD FOR FOUR WEEKS ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

deadlock persists between the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government and Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) after the latter rejected the federal cabinet’s subcommittee’s decision to allow former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to go abroad for four weeks on account of medical treatment, granting him ‘one-time’ permission against an indemnity bond of Rs7 billion.

The government’s decision was announced by Law Minister Farogh Naseem in a press conference in the federal capital after a meeting of the cabinet’s subcommittee that was convened to discuss the removal of former PM Nawaz’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

“Shehbaz Sharif, who had appealed for the permission, will have to submit an indemnity bond to the tune of Rs7bn to avail the concession,” the law minister said after the meeting in allusion to the appeal by the younger Sharif.

Meanwhile, the interior ministry also issued a memorandum to this effect. The letter states that the former prime minister will be allowed to travel abroad if he furnishes an indemnity bond as following: 8million UK Pounds or equivalent rupees; 25 million US Dollars or equivalent ru-

pees; and Rs 1.5bn. The memo stated that the indemnity bond could either be submitted by Nawaz or his brother Shehbaz Sharif.

Speaking about the decision to send the PML-N supreme leader abroad, he said the permission was not conditional to anyone’s consent and has been granted to fulfill the government’s obligations in view of Nawaz’s “adverse critical medical condition”.

He said the Interior Ministry had received an application from PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, who had also affixed a detailed medical report from Sharif Medical City hospital and added the report was crosschecked with the Punjab medical board also endorsing the report of the Sharif Medical City on Nov 10.

Speaking about the health of the PML-N supreme leader, he said Nawaz has a blood disorder and that his platelet count was around 25,000 when it should have been around 150,000 or above.

He had also suffered a stroke.

“On November 12, we held three meetings and the subcommittee informed the cabinet that Nawaz Sharif’s medical condition is very serious,” he said, noting that besides the blood platelets issue, Nawaz suffers from numerous cardiac issues and has undergone six heart procedures.

“When they attempt to treat Nawaz’s platelet count issues, other

PML-N SAYS MAKING NAWAZ’S DEPARTURE CONDITIONAL IS ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’, SHEHBAZ CALLS MEETING TODAY complications including those related to his heart arise,” he said quoting the medical team that has been treating Nawaz.

Speaking about the difference of opinion within the cabinet over the decision to permit Nawaz to travel abroad, he said the cabinet members weren’t aware of the gravity of the former PM’s health and once informed they would endorse his travel with a”thumping majority”.

Speaking about the refusal of the Sharif family to pay any guarantees, the law minister said that it was up to them how they take the matter forward. The subcommittee meeting was also attended by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar. Naseem had earlier said once a decision is taken, media and the public would be briefed.

The decision to submit the indemnity bonds was contested by the PML-N, with Shehbaz Sharif calling a meeting of the party leaders on Thursday to discuss the strategy in this regard.

According to PML-N leader Atta Tarar, Nawaz had already submitted surety bonds in two separate courts and there was no need to submit more sureties to the government.

In a statement after the law minister’s presser, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the government’s reluctance in removing Nawaz’s name from the ECL was

causing a delay in the arrival of an air ambulance to transport the former premier abroad. She said that as per the doctor’s directives, the air ambulance was supposed to arrive on Wednesday.

“Making Nawaz’s departure abroad conditional is unconstitutional,” she said, adding that the government was playing a “dangerous political game” with Nawaz’s health.

An emergency meeting of doctors is underway regarding his health, she said, sharing that the former premier had been administered high doses of steroids twice already and repeated doses of steroids could be dangerous, given Nawaz’s health.

She said that all the legal requirements regarding his health had already been completed and the government should not act as a hindrance to his immediate treatment.

The meeting was supposed to take place at 10am, but it was postponed due to “miscommunication”.

The PML-N representatives were also not invited to the meeting, said Marriyum Aurangzeb, refuting reports of a boycott.

Speaking to the media in the morning, Tarar said that PML-N representatives had not been asked to appear before the sub-committee meeting.

However, the head of the committee had told them that if they change their stance on the surety bonds, they should inform the committee.

KABUL AGENCIES At least 12 people, including three children, were killed when a minivan packed with explosives rammed into a vehicle carrying foreigners during Kabul’s morning rush hour Wednesday, officials said. Four foreign nationals were among those wounded in the attack that targeted an SUV belonging to a private Canadian security company, GardaWorld — in a crowded neighbourhood which is near the interior ministry and north of Kabul airport. “As a result of today’s attack in Kabul, 12 people, including three children, were killed and 20 were wounded including four members of Gardaworld,” Marwa Amini, an interior ministry spokeswoman, said.

All those killed in the suicide attack were Afghan civilians, and the nationalities of the foreigners wounded were not confirmed. Interior Minister Massoud Andarabi said that one of those killed was a 13-year-old child heading to school. “The enemies of our people should know that our people are determined for peace, nothing can stop them from achieving peace,” he said. A source at the interior ministry said the blast was detonated by a suicide bomber in the vehicle.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in the city, which is one of the deadliest places in the war-torn country for civilians.

Trump prioritised Biden investigation over Ukraine aid, witness tells impeachment probe WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Senior Democratic and Republican lawmakers presented dueling narratives on Wednesday as a U.S. congressional impeachment inquiry that threatens Donald Trump’s tumultuous presidency entered a crucial new phase with the first televised public hearing.

The drama unfolded in a hearing of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee in which two career U.S. diplomats – William Taylor and George Kent – voiced alarm over the Republican president and those around him pressuring Ukraine to conduct investigations that would benefit Trump politically.

One revelation in particular drew attention, showing Trump’s keen in-

terest in Ukraine investigating political rival Joe Biden. Taylor said a member of his staff overheard a July 26 phone call between Trump and Gordon Sondland, a former political donor appointed as a senior diplomat, in which the Republican president asked about those investigations and Sondland told him that the Ukrainians were ready to proceed.

Following the call – which occurred a day after Trump had asked Ukraine’s president during a phone call to conduct these investigations – the staff member asked Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, what Trump thought about Ukraine, said Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine.“Ambassador Sondland responded that President Trump cares more about the investigations of Biden, which Giu-

liani was pressing for,” Taylor testified, referring to Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.

Asked by Adam Schiff, the committee’s Democratic chairman, if that meant Trump cared more about the investigations than about Ukraine, Taylor said, “Yes, sir.”

The public hearings are scheduled for Wednesday and Friday.

With a potential television audience of tens of millions looking on, Schiff opened the historic session – the first impeachment drama in two decades – in an ornate hearing room packed with journalists, lawmakers and members of the public.

Schiff’s accusations that Trump abused his power was met by a staunch denial by the panel’s senior Republican, Devin Nunes, of the Republican president’s complicity

in a saga that revolves around whether Trump and his aides improperly pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on a political rival for his political benefit.

Biden is a former U.S. vice president and a leading contender for the Democratic nomination for the 2020 election. Taylor and Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, expressed concern that U.S. security aid was withheld from Ukraine as leverage to get Kiev to carry out the investigations.

“The questions presented by this impeachment inquiry are whether President Trump sought to exploit that ally’s vulnerability and invite Ukraine’s interference in our elections,” Schiff said in his opening statement.

CJP rejects AGP's objection on including Justice Isa in internment centres case ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday rejected an objection raised by the attorney general over the inclusion of Justice Qazi Faez Isa in the five-judge bench hearing the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments’ appeals against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) judgement in the internment centres case. The five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Asif Saeed Khosa includes Justice Gulzar Ahmed, Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Umar Ata Bandial

and Justice Isa. At the onset of the hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan Anwar Mansoor objected to the induction of Justice Isa in the five-member bench.

“Justice Faez Isa is a judge, how can you object over him?”

Justice Mushir Alam asked the AGP, to which he replied that a presidential reference is pending against Justice Isa. Can you raise the objection as the Attorney General, Justice Mushir Alam asked. “Yes I can and I am raising the objection,” AG Anwar Mansoor said.

The chief justice, however, set

aside the objection and asked the AGP to present his arguments.

“Tell the reason of your plea for adjournment of the hearing,” the bench asked the AG. “I was not prepared to present my arguments before the court,” he responded. “It is a case of illegal detention and the hearing cannot be adjourned when the victims are in unlawful detention,” Chief Justice Khosa said. “We are hearing arguments of the petitioners if you are not prepared,” chief justice further said.

The counsels of Farhatullah Babar and other petitioners initiated their arguments. The CJP remarked

that it is the matter of human lives and constitutional liberties, this matter could not be ignored.

“A person can be detained not more than 24 hours during which he should be produced before a magistrate. The bench issued orders for submitting detailed list of the prisoners till 11:30am on Thursday.

The PHC had declared the Action (in Aid of Civil Powers) Ordinance 2019, KP continuation of laws in erstwhile Pata Act 2018, KP continuation of laws in erstwhile Fata Act 2019 and Actions (In Aid of Civil Powers) regulation, 2011 as ultra vires of the Constitution.

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

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